Uncharted
by California Kat
Summary: Uncharted is the sequel to Uninvited (which should be read first). Eric and Sookie must marshal allies as they evade Russell and his minions. Eric begins to formulate how to bring Russell down, even as Sookie learns more about her Fae powers. However, the greatest obstacle faced by Eric and Sookie might be letting themselves love each other without questioning "why" they love.
1. Chapter 1: Gusts and Storms

_**Summary**_**:** _Uncharted_ is the sequel to _Uninvited_ (which should be read first). Eric and Sookie must marshal allies as they evade Russell and his minions. Eric begins to formulate how to bring Russell down, even as Sookie learns more about her Fae powers. However, the greatest obstacle faced by Eric and Sookie might be letting themselves love each other without questioning "why" they love.

_**Disclaimer**_**:** I own no characters or plotlines related to _True Blood_ or the _Southern Vampire Mysteries_. I write for my own pleasure (and yours) only and make no profit from my work.

_**Artwork:**_ Sephrenia is responsible for the title banners for the story—as well as the character and chapter banners (which can be found on my WordPress site—californiakat. wordpress. com).

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**Uncharted: Part II of the UN-Series **

**The End of **_**Uninvited**_

_"Have you a price for me, vampire?" Niall asked harshly._

_ "There is no price," Eric answered, though he didn't look away from Sookie._

_ "Come, Great-granddaughter," Niall said, a bit more gently than before. _

_ Tears continued to stream from Sookie's eyes as she rose from the couch. Their hands still linked, Eric rose with her. _

_ "Hunter," Sookie said quietly. "If you get out of the Russell thing alive, will you find him? Will you help him?"_

_ Eric nodded, understanding in an instant what Sookie was asking of him. It wasn't protection from other vampires that she was hoping for him to provide. It was protection from his own "gift" of telepathy. She didn't want him to go through the kinds of things that she had to as a child._

_ "Whether I live or die, I will see to it," the vampire vowed. _

_ Sookie nodded, and then—with another sob—she let go of his hands._

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**Chapter 01: Gusts and Storms **

"_**There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms."—George Eliot**_

_**Niall POV**_

Niall Brigant looked on warily as his great-granddaughter slowly approached him.

He had not expected her to have Fintan's eyes. He had not expected her to be so much like his half-human son either. Certainly, they had both been gifted with powerful—almost identical—Fae sparks. Yet they both seemed to favor their humanity, and they were both clearly rebellious and stubborn by nature.

Moreover, Niall certainly hadn't expected Sookie to have feelings for the vampire, Eric Northman!

Claudine, whom he'd tasked to watch over Sookie for many years, had reported that Sookie's affections were with William Compton. Claudine had also reported that the "love" Sookie felt for Compton was not a true love—that it was based on her consumption of Compton's blood.

After learning that, Niall had been looking into having a severing spell performed for the girl, but Eric Northman's blood coming into the equation had complicated everything. Sookie's spark, which had lain dormant, burst into life because of Northman's powerful blood—blood which, according to the Norseman's maker, had tasted slightly supernatural to begin with, though Godric hadn't known if the trace was fairy or, perhaps, demon blood.

At this point, it didn't matter to Niall what the Norseman had been as a human—except that it made his blood and magic more potent than it would have been otherwise.

Niall shook his head. No—what mattered to him was his great-granddaughter. It was only by happenstance that Breandan's people hadn't sensed Sookie in the human realm yet. Her having vampire blood had actually helped to prevent her detection after her spark had become active. And that had been incredibly lucky for her, for Breandan would have certainly killed Sookie if he'd found her—_after_ torturing her, that is.

Once Niall had sensed that his spell inhibiting Sookie's spark had been undone, he'd wanted to take her to Faerie immediately. However, the vampire blood prevented her from going there.

Thus, he'd given her up—at least for a time.

But things had changed when Desmond Cataliades had given him a message from Northman. From the demon, Niall had learned that Sookie had undergone a severing spell. After that, Niall had needed to wait for Sookie to heal, and that could only be done if she stayed in the presence of the vampire for a time, since he had acted as her so-called "helper" throughout the spell.

Niall had had a very difficult time believing that particular information! The thought of a vampire performing an unselfish act was unheard of! Then again, the vampire was calculating, and he wanted to use Sookie. The witch, Octavia, had indicated that there was more between them—that there was _real_ care, maybe even love—but Niall had not believed that hypothesis. Thus, seeing their affection for one another with his own eyes was startling to the fairy.

However, he had to admit that it _was_ there.

And it was true.

Niall steeled himself before he allowed his resolve to falter. Perhaps, Eric Northman wasn't as bad as Compton had been, but he was still a vampire, and Niall was convinced that Sookie would be better off without him. In time, she would move on. Plus, there was her safety to consider.

Sookie continued to move slowly toward him, but her eyes stayed locked into the vampire's eyes, just as the Norseman's eyes continued to bore into hers. Niall had allowed them their time to say goodbye due to his own memories of such affection.

Niall stifled his sigh and tried to remain patient. He hated being in the human realm. It brought forth too many memories—too much anguish.

He had never loved his fairy wife, Leonie. She had been chosen for him by his parents. That said—Niall had grown to _appreciate_ Leonie over time, and they had celebrated together when their daughter, Magallen, was born. A few years later, it was learned that Leonie could have no other children, so she and Niall had chosen to no longer lie together in a carnal way. After all, their affection for one another had never been of the sexual variety; however, Leonie was a wonderful partner and queen. And she had been an even better mother to Magallen.

Unfortunately, on her four hundredth birthday, Magallen had died in childbirth, though she'd left Leonie and him with the gift of three grandchildren: Claude, Claudine, and Claudette. And Claudette had already provided them with a great-grandchild.

Over the many years since Magallen's birth, both Leonie and he had taken many lovers in many realms. It had been a human woman named Adira who had captured Niall's own heart. He'd stayed with her for many years—according to human standards—and Adira had given him twin sons, Dermot and Fintan. But time had not been kind to Niall and his beloved.

Niall had chosen to come to the human realm during a period when time on earth was long compared to time in the fairy realm. Thus, he'd expected to share Adira's lifetime with her while only a few months went by in Faerie.

But Niall had been called back to Faerie because of an attack on the Sky Fae made by his brother Rogan. Niall had been duty-bound to return to Faerie, even though he'd known that his beloved Adira would be long dead before he would be able to return to her. His sons both had strong sparks, and Niall's only choice was to take them with him to Faerie. Without him, there would have been no way that they could have kept hidden, especially since they would not have aged as humans did. And—since the children were so young at the time—they'd needed him to help them develop their sparks.

Thus, Niall had been forced to do the hardest thing he'd ever done. He'd made love to Adira for a final time, and then he'd used a memory charm to erase himself and their sons from her mind. He'd left her with as much wealth as he could and then had taken their sons to Faerie.

The pain from that goodbye had never left him, and he could feel similar pain coming from Sookie. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment. Since Sookie had a fairy spark, a memory charm would not work on her any more than glamour would. Otherwise, he would take away her pain, just as he'd taken away Adira's—and, many years later, Adele's.

Niall let out an angry-sounding sigh. He'd allowed for his great-granddaughter to delay them for long enough.

"Give me your hand, Sookie," Niall said, making a conscious effort to speak to her in a calm voice.

Niall had not wanted to alienate Sookie, but his anger over seeing her pine for the vampire was threatening to overtake him. He promised himself that he would do his best to make sure Sookie was well taken care of. And once she was in Faerie, the triplets would make her feel more welcome. Claudine, he knew, would be happy to get home as well. Her husband and she were anxious to begin trying for children. Claudine had been at her assignment in the human realm for almost fifteen years, although it had seemed like only a few months to them in Faerie.

Claude had spent some time with his sister so that she wouldn't be so isolated, but—as far as Niall was concerned—they had worked and played long enough among the humans for now. It was time for _all_ of his kin to be at home.

* * *

_**Sookie POV**_

Hesitantly, Sookie gave Niall her hand. Tears were still streaming from her eyes, and she couldn't imagine them ever stopping. It wasn't just Eric she would be leaving. It was everything else, and she cried for those things too—for her brother, Tara, Lafayette, and Sam. She also cried for the Stackhouse homestead that she'd always loved, but which didn't really belong to her at all since she wasn't even a Stackhouse. But mostly, she cried to mark the loss of a love she had only just found.

"Wait!" she said, looking desperately at Niall. "Please—can I have one minute more. Just one—please."

The fairy nodded stiffly and turned his back.

Sookie launched herself at Eric again, and he caught her before devouring her lips with his own.

"I _do_ love you," Sookie said when she finally pulled away. "_I do_! I wanted you to know that! I needed you to know."

He kissed her again, trying to infuse their last twenty seconds together with as much emotion as he was capable.

"Be safe, little one," he said when he broke the kiss after their minute was up. He set her gently onto her feet and then caressed her cheek lightly, smoothing away some of her tears. "Be happy."

"You too," she managed.

"Come!" Niall said. "No more delays."

Sookie disentangled herself from Eric's arms and moved toward Niall a second time.

* * *

_**Eric POV**_

Eric felt something inside of him slipping away, even as a scarlet tear slipped from his eye. He should have been ashamed for showing such emotion in front of the fairy, but he was unable to control his sorrow, just as he was unable to stop the feeling of emptiness that was already throbbing in his un-beating heart.

He watched as Niall took Sookie's hand. And then—with a loud pop—they were gone.

Eric was on his knees before the echo of the popping sound had left the room.

The words that fell from his lips were a surprise to him—and they were too late for her.

"Ek elska hana," he whispered in the language of his father and mother. ["_I love her_."]

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**A/N: Hello! The _UN-Series_ is back. I hope you "enjoyed" this opening chapter. As always, if the story becomes "too much" and you need a little bit of a spoiler (assurance), please PM me. **

**Thanks to all who read _Uninvited_! I hope you will continue to delve into this "universe" with me. **

**I love reading your positive and constructive comments/observations. I hope that you will continue to share your thoughts with me as we move along. Finally, I hope that you will "trust" me enough to know that I am taking this story in a different direction than my previous ones. Sometimes things are not as they seem.  
**

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**As with _Uninvited_, _Uncharted_ will have my attention every other week (because I switch between it and my other story,_ Touch the Flame_). I try to post about 3 chapters per week.**

**I expect to get you one or two more chapters of this story before my next transition.**

**Best,**

**Kat**

**Remember-to see Sephrenia's art for this story, you can visit my WordPress site (californiakat1564 . wordpress . com).**


	2. Chapter 2: A Hard Way to Learn

**Chapter 02: A Hard Way to Learn**

"_**Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves."—Henry David Thoreau**_

**Last time:** _Eric felt something inside of him slipping away, even as a scarlet tear slipped from his eye. He should have been ashamed for showing such emotion in front of the fairy, but he was unable to control his sorrow, just as he was unable to stop the feeling of emptiness that was already throbbing in his un-beating heart._

_ He watched as Niall took Sookie's hand. And then—with a loud pop—they were gone._

_ Eric was on his knees before the echo of the popping sound had left the room._

_ The words that fell from his lips were a surprise to him—and they were too late for her._

_ "Ek elska hana," he whispered in the language of his father and mother. ["I love her."] _

The realization that he'd fallen in love with Sookie brought more blood tears to Eric's eyes. The pain of her leaving jarred a place deep inside of himself, and a feeling of emptiness flooded him from that place.

He closed his eyes and attempted to "get used to" the physical feeling of the uncomfortable aching. He'd heard before that human hearts could "break" to the point that humans would endure physical pain from it, but he'd not expected that to be able to happen to a vampire. Apparently, he'd been wrong.

Very wrong.

Seeing the phone Brady had constructed for him lying on the coffee table, the vampire reached out and picked it up with a shaking hand. Had it been possible, he would have held his breath as he turned on the phone. Sookie had been wearing the ponytail holder with the tracking chip. Eric quickly pushed the button to activate it. He sighed loudly as an error message popped up on the screen. He'd not expected to find a map marking her location—but he realized that he had been praying for a miracle. However, Sookie was now as far away from him as she could be, and no technology that he could obtain would find her. That hard truth made the mighty Viking do something he'd done only two other times. On a cold, hard floor next to his human father's dead body. On a rooftop in Dallas.

He wept.

It was several hours later when he rose to his feet and went into the kitchen. The feeling of emptiness inside of him was no less painful, but the vampire knew he had to move nonetheless. He needed to gather his supplies together and leave the house in Slidell right at sunset the next night, for the concealment spell on the property was due to run its course during the afternoon on the day after that.

Eric opened the refrigerator door and almost fell to his knees again. Instead of being greeted by bottles of TrueBlood or even the usual bagged blood he'd been drinking, he was met with a bag of A+ blood, obviously obtained by Amelia at Sookie's request. He took the blood—his favorite human flavor—out of the refrigerator and examined the appliance's other contents. There were ingredients present for a fried chicken meal; in fact, the chicken was already soaking in some kind of marinating liquid. He closed his eyes as he realized that Sookie had planned things so that they would both have their favorite meals on their last night in the Slidell house. He pulled out a glass from the cabinet and heated some of the blood Sookie had procured for him, despite the fact that he knew that it would taste sour that night.

He shook himself as he tried not to spill additional tears. He already felt a little weak from blood loss, and he had many things to do before the next evening—too many things to do to be able to afford more time wallowing in his misery.

The first item on his agenda was a call to Desmond Cataliades. Eric downed his glass of blood quickly and then dialed his phone.

The demon answered on the first ring.

"Northman," Cataliades said, sounding a little concerned.

"Did you know that Niall Brigant planned to take Sookie to the fairy realm?" Eric asked without preamble.

The lawyer sighed. "He took her?"

"Yes."

"I did not know," Cataliades said. "Did he tell you why?"

Eric kept his tone emotionless—even as pain gripped his heart. "Apparently, I inadvertently caused the fairy spark within Sookie to come to life, making her vulnerable to being found by Niall's enemies. The fact that she had vampire blood in her mitigated that threat, but—according to the fairy—it would have been only a matter of time until his enemies found her once we left the protection afforded by the spell around this house.

"I did not know, Eric," Cataliades reiterated. "You know I am not a particular fan of the Fae—though I have worked for the Brigants on occasion."

"Did you know Niall was her great-grandfather?"

"Yes," the demon admitted, his voice sounding tired. "I knew Fintan. But I also knew that Niall had left Sookie alone in this realm until now. I never imagined he would take her. I did not know the spark within her had come to life."

Eric sighed deeply. He believed the demon was speaking the truth, and he couldn't blame him for the situation either. It was the fault of his own greed that had made him lose Sookie. Then again, he had a feeling that Niall would have found Sookie whether he'd ask Cataliades to track the fairy down or not. Once they left the Slidell house, she would have apparently been exposed to both Niall and his enemies. From the moment the severing spell was complete, they had been unknowingly living together on borrowed time.

Eric closed his eyes tightly. It was an impossible situation. If the severing spell had not been done, Bill could have found Sookie. With no vampire blood in her now that the spark had come to life, the Fae could find her. Eric now wished that he'd left some of his own blood inside of her, but what would have that done to Sookie's trust in him and in her own feelings?

"How will this change your plans?" the demon asked, interrupting Eric's circular thinking.

"I am not sure yet," Eric admitted, "though the likelihood of my ultimate success just went down."

"It was already quite low," the demon stated truthfully.

The vampire held in his sigh. "At least Sookie will be safer now."

"You _do_ care for her—just as my goddaughter said."

"That no longer matters," Eric responded, even as he used a dishtowel to wipe another bloody tear from his eye. "I will leave at first dark tomorrow. I will contact you when I am at my next stop. Have you had any luck finding Klymene?"

"No," the demon reported. "There has been no trace of her since the early 1800's. Are you sure she is still among the un-dead?"

"No," Eric admitted. "Godric never mentioned her dying, but—as you know—there were many things he did not mention to me, especially in his final years."

"Pam?" the demon asked. "Does she yet live?"

"Our bond is still alive," Eric said, not giving too much away. Not even Cataliades knew of her whereabouts. Eric had kept all of Pam's arrangements separate. He trusted the demon, but he'd learned long ago never to put all of his eggs into one basket.

"That is good," the demon said.

"Niall spoke of Sookie's cousin Hadley having a child. I know only that his name is Hunter. I do not know his surname." Eric paused. "Hunter has inherited telepathy, but no spark, so Niall doesn't seem to give a shit about him. I estimate that he is around the age of four or five—maybe six. I need you to find him."

"Hmm," Cataliades sounded. "That shouldn't be too difficult if Hadley gave birth to her son in a hospital."

"I promised Sookie that I would make sure that Hunter did not have the problems she did when she was a child."

"What do you wish me to do?" the demon asked. "I assume it is _not_ to reunite him with his mother." Eric heard the shuffling of papers and knew from Cataliades's tone that he was now in lawyer-mode.

"No," Eric said quickly. "Hadley is the reason Sophie-Anne knew of Sookie; it is dumb luck that she didn't tell the queen of Hunter before Niall erased her memory of him. I believe the boy is living with his father," Eric relayed. "Once he is found, have the father approached. Sookie would not want the child and parent separated—unless that would be necessary for the child's wellbeing. I will leave that decision up to you, but if the father is a good one, he will want to help his child if Hunter is showing signs of being a telepath. I would like for you to arrange for that help—or for an appropriate family to take in Hunter if his father is found lacking."

"A demon family, I assume?" Cataliades asked.

"Preferably. Or Were. Sookie cannot hear them as well."

Eric could hear the scratching of the lawyer's pen. "There is a demon of my acquaintance who has taught several telepaths among the Dae how to use that gift. Telepathy is not as common among us as it is with the Fae, so Finola is currently between pupils. However, her price is very high."

"My account in Switzerland?" Eric asked. "Would that be adequate?"

"Yes," Cataliades said, "much more than adequate."

"Good," Eric said. "You can earmark that entire account for the child. And—if more is needed—use the one in Singapore."

Eric heard more scratching from a pen.

"I will find the child and arrange for the father to be screened," the demon rehashed, obviously double-checking to make sure he understood the Viking's wishes. "If he is an acceptable parent for the boy, I will arrange for Finola to speak to the father and then begin teaching the child. If the father is found wanting, I will arrange for a place for Hunter to stay while Finola works with him."

"Sookie would want for Hunter to have," Eric paused, "a _family_, so make sure that if he is placed somewhere else, it is with people who will come to love him—people who would be willing to treat the child as their own."

"Understood," Cataliades said. "There should be plenty of money in the Swiss account to fund his upbringing and pay for Finola's contract. Should I set up a trust for the boy with the remainder?"

"Yes," Eric said. "And just add the money from the Singapore account to it too. I never want the child to have to struggle financially."

"That's a lot of money," the demon observed quietly.

"And I have a lot more," Eric said just as quietly. "Should I live, I will make contact with Hunter when he is of age; otherwise, I would prefer that he _not_ be put into the paths of vampires—if that can be helped. He is only one-sixteenth Fae, but his blood might still attract my kind."

"I will do all I can to keep his telepathy and Fae heritage a secret. I will have Finola sign her usual confidentiality agreement; the Dae are extremely reticent about their gifts as well, so if he is placed with a Dae family, he will be well-insulated. And I will ask my goddaughter about the possibility of having scent inhibitors made up for the boy if he is ever in situations where he might encounter vampires."

"Good. I will be in touch tomorrow night for a report." Eric hung up the phone and then dialed Octavia.

"How long have you known that Niall would be coming tonight, witch?" he asked harshly.

"You were dee one to initiate contact with the fairy," she returned.

"Did you know he would take Sookie to Faerie with him?"

"Did he?" Octavia asked, her tone conveying astonishment. "I wouldn't have thought it possible."

"Explain!" Eric demanded.

"Apparently, I was wrong," she said instead. "But—no—I did not even know she had dee power of light until earlier today when I saw it. And by den, it was too late to stop Niall from coming to you."

"But you _knew_ she was Fae?" he asked.

"Yes. Niall contacted Desmond, who told him how to make contact with me. Dee fairy came to me soon after. I told him dat he'd best not separate you and dee child until her healing was done. I'm afraid he used his own magic on me, so I could say nothing to you—until he permitted it. I believe he used a similar spell on my godfather. I told you and Sookie of Niall's impending visit as soon as the fairy permitted it."

They were silent for a moment.

"He took her," Eric said, his heartbreak evident.

"I am sorry, Eric—so sorry," Octavia said sadly.

Eric closed his eyes and wiped away more tears. He composed himself. "You did not bring the items I requested."

"I will have dem to you at first dark tomorrow," Octavia said before hanging up.

Eric ran his hand through his hair and warmed up more blood. He made himself go slower with this glass, and he tried to savor the flavor that Sookie had arranged for him to have.

He closed his eyes and imagined her sitting next to him, unapologetically eating her fried chicken with her hands and then washing it down with her beloved sweet tea.

After he was done with his meal, he rinsed his glass and put the remaining blood into the refrigerator to drink before he left the next night.

Slowly, as if a monster from his childhood nightmares were waiting to hurt him, the Viking climbed the stairs and went into the room he'd shared with Sookie for the previous twelve days. He could not remember a fortnight which had been so long and yet so short. He could not remember one that had meant more to him.

To preserve Sookie's scent on his body for as long as possible, he decided that he would shower when he rose the next night, but he did wash the dried blood from his face. Blood had gotten onto his shirt as well, but he did not want to take off the garment yet since Sookie's scent clung so richly to it.

He looked around the bathroom. Sookie had obviously begun packing her things in preparation of them leaving. Many of her hygiene products were already in a clear bag next to the sink. He left the bathroom and looked around the bedroom. Sookie's clothing was all folded neatly and waiting for the small suitcase that Amelia was to bring. Eric had noticed the suitcase downstairs and quickly retrieved it. He also saw that there was a shopping bag next to it, so he picked that up too.

When he got back upstairs, he opened the suitcase and then emptied the shopping bag. There were a few more pieces of clothing and some more shampoo and conditioner. He zipped into the bathroom to collect the rest of Sookie's hygiene products and then added the shampoo and conditioner to the bag.

Having been specially made, the suitcase had a false bottom. Eric opened that and then retrieved the various IDs he'd had made up for Sookie. He looked through the pictures. Brady had used several different pictures to create the various IDs. Eric chose his two favorites and put them to the side before placing the other IDs into the false bottom of the suitcase. He knew that he had the pictures on his disposable phone, but he would have to replace that soon. Plus, he wanted images of his beloved in a more tactile form.

Next, Eric packed the new clothing Amelia had brought before getting the folded pile of items from the dresser. All of the items had been washed since Sookie had last worn them except for a sweater that she would pull on every time she was cold. That garment held her scent the strongest. Eric put it to the side as well. After he'd gathered all of her clothing, he placed her bathroom items and her other pair of shoes into the suitcase.

That done, he went to the purse Amelia had brought Sookie the week before and dumped its contents onto the bed. He thumbed through them before picking up the cherry-flavored lip gloss she liked to wear. The taste of it was still on his lips, and he put the little tube with the sweater and the IDs before checking the driver's license that Sookie had put into her wallet to work as her first new identity when they left the Slidell house. "Katherine Miller," he said out loud.

Finding that the picture matched one that he'd taken already, he put that ID back into its place. Then he went to the nightstand on his side of the bed and pulled out a large wad of bills. He put several thousand dollars into Sookie's billfold before putting all of her belongings, as well as the book she'd been reading, into her purse. He moved her packed suitcase and purse to the side of the room and then began to pack his own things.

He didn't have much. He wouldn't need much. He used the duffle bag he'd had before and quickly packed all of his belongings, except for one change of clothing. As he did, he noticed that all of his clothes—except for the boxer-briefs he'd worn to bed—had been laundered. He knew that Sookie must have done the chore earlier in the day.

He stopped for a moment and closed his eyes. He inhaled unneeded air into his lungs and then exhaled it slowly.

After opening his eyes, he packed the things he was going to keep of Sookie's. This chore completed, he moved quickly around the house, gathering the things that they had been planning to take with them. Most of those things were books that Amelia had been collecting for them.

After boxing those up and loading them into the hatchback of the Prius, Eric wandered into the living room and stared into the barely orange embers of the fire he'd built at the beginning of the night.

The fire had gone out.

He found some paper and a pen and then went into the formal dining room. He'd not been into that room so far that night since he and Sookie didn't really use it. When he looked at the table, he felt more bloody tears rise to his eyes and then fall down his cheeks. She'd set out two places for the meal she'd planned. She'd put candles onto the table and there was a book of matches next to them. Eric retrieved another dishtowel from the kitchen and then returned to the dining room, where he lit the candles and turned off the lights.

Then he wiped his eyes and sat down to write:

_Sookie, my love,_

_ You are gone from me now, and I fear that your great-grandfather will hold to his word and keep you forever from this realm. I do not know why I write, knowing that your eyes will likely never see this page. _

_ But I find that now that I have discovered that I _do_ love you, I cannot leave this place where I fell in love with you without the hope that I might see you once more. Without that, I could not do what I must do; I could not face my fate with Russell. _

_ I do not know what human time in relation to Faerie time is right now. You have been gone from my side for seven hours and fourteen minutes here. Yet it feels longer than a thousand years in many ways. My soul is empty now that you are no longer in this world. I had not even known I had one until you entered my life. And now I will—I fear—forever feel the pain of your not being with me to fill it again, for that is what you did, little one. You gave me a soul and then you filled it with your light. _

_ Earlier today, you literally put your light into me. I will never forget the feeling of that. I will never forget what it felt like to kiss you or to tell you about my long life. I will never forget the feeling of your body leaned against mine as we bathed together. I will remember everything, Sookie. And—if I am lucky enough to go to Valhalla when I am finally done with my vampire life—I hope that I will take the memory of you with me there as well, for no Valkyrie could ever compare to your beauty._

_ I feel so far from you and myself as I write this. I know not whether the hours I have spent without you have been seconds or decades to you in the fairy realm. Are you even still alive? Or has time—as well as distance—already taken you from me?_

_ I cannot think of these things past tonight—not if I hope to live to outlast time itself. Perhaps one day Niall's enemies will all be gone, and he will let you go. I intend to write another note to you as well—one that I will give to Mr. Cataliades in the hopes that he will get it to you through Niall. That one will lead you to this one if you get it. _

_ I have left your belongings, including your IDs, in your suitcase. I will arrange for another car to be left in the garage. If weeks are minutes there, then perhaps you will come back here someday. I am including Mr. Cataliades's phone number in this letter. If you are reading this and I am still among the un-dead, he will be able to find me. I will also keep the tracking device with me at all times, and I am leaving you your phone. I will check each night when I rise to see if you have returned to this realm, and if you have, I will come for you. _

_ You told me that you'd fallen in love with me. I will carry those words with me until I am no more. _

_ I did not answer you as I should have. But I learned something when you were ripped from me. I can love. I do love. And I will fight the true death every day of my existence just so that I may one day have the opportunity to tell you that in person. For now, my written words will have to do._

_ I love you, Sookie._

_Yours, _

_E_

Eric folded the letter into thirds and then set it aside before picking up another piece of paper. On it, he wrote a much shorter letter, knowing that it would pass through Niall's hands before Sookie saw it—_if_ she ever saw it.

_Dearest Sookie, _

_ I miss you. _

_ If this finds you, I want you to know that your personal items are still in our home in Slidell. In our bedroom. _

_ I will always think of it as ours—and you as mine. (Though I am certain you would fight me on that.)_

Could_ has become _do_. _

_Yours,_

_Eric Northman_

The vampire sealed the shorter letter in an envelope and addressed it to Sookie before blowing out the candles and taking the longer letter to the bedroom. He put Sookie's specially-made phone and the letter into her purse. He put his own phone and his Thor's Hammer pin on his nightstand before picking up the wristband. It had been a successful test—enough silver to awaken him. The dosage had hurt, but his body had already been healing itself when Sookie shot him with her light.

Yes. It had been a successful test—of the wristband. But it had also led to the most perfect kisses of his life. He placed the wristband into his bag and glanced at the pictures of Sookie on his phone before stripping off his clothing. Out of a habit that had formed due to Sookie's modesty, he left on his boxer briefs. Then he settled into her side of the bed and buried his nose into her pillow.

The pillowcase was streaked with blood long before he died for the day.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for everyone who has already "favorited," "followed," or commented on this story already! I'm so glad that many of you have followed from **_**Uninvited**_**. For those of you who are worried about the length of time Eric and Sookie will be apart—please don't panic. It's been only one chapter so far! Give me a few more to get some new plot-points rolling before you threaten to jump ship. **

**Since I got this one done ahead of schedule, I might have one more chapter for you this week—before I transition back to **_**Touch the Flame**_**. **

**Next up: Things don't exactly go as Niall had hoped back in Faerie. And someone gives Niall a good tongue-lashing for his short-sightedness. **

**Until then,**

**Kat**


	3. Chapter 3: Always Yours

**Chapter 3: Always Yours **

"_**If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were."—Khalil Gibran**_

As soon as she took Niall's hand, Sookie felt herself moving quickly away from Eric—so impossibly fast that her breath was knocked from her body. The air around her seemed to be spinning—purple and black swirls of light.

The next thing that Sookie became aware of was a piercing scream—her own. And then she felt the pain—so much pain that she knew she'd be ripped apart from it.

Niall's voice seemed to be coming at her from every direction. "What have you done?!" Niall half-demanded and half-accused as he shook her shoulders roughly. She could tell that her great-grandfather's grip was tight. And she was sure she'd have bruises from it, but she couldn't feel it through the searing pain, which seemed to be pulling her very soul from her body.

The sound of her own screams no longer met Sookie's ears, even though her mouth was still gaping open. Her lungs were on fire.

"Niall!" a female voice yelled. Sookie barely managed to register that a beautiful brunette woman who looked vaguely familiar was now standing near them. "You _must_ take her back—_now_!"

"No!" Niall yelled. "I _won't_ take her back—just to be fed on by vampires!"

"Niall! You don't have a choice!"

"What have you done?" Niall yelled at Sookie, even as he shook her again.

"Niall!" the female voice said insistently. "Please! Go now! She'll die if you don't!"

Sookie believed the woman as her pain intensified. She was certain that nothing would ever make it go away, except for her death—and maybe not even that.

Sookie heard nothing else, nor did she see anything else—except for the purple and black colors jumbling together again.

And then suddenly, the colors were gone. And so was the pain as she sank into welcome unconsciousness.

* * *

"I thought that you were supposed to be some great and wise elder Fae," a sarcastic voice greeted Niall as he popped Sookie back to where he'd taken her from—the living room in Eric's Slidell home. "So far—I'm underwhelmed."

"What do you want, witch?" Niall demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here with dee day. I figured you might show your face here again—to bring dee vampire harm—and I was _not_ about to leave him here unguarded."

"You think I would have staked him as he slept?" Niall asked belligerently.

"Would you not have?" Octavia returned with a sneer. "After all, you tore his heart from him just last night! He might have welcomed a stake in it instead!"

"As it turns out, _she_ would die too if I killed the vampire," the fairy said bitterly, even as he unceremoniously lay an unconscious Sookie down on the couch.

Octavia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "True. But to see her like dis tells me dat you waited longer dan you should have to bring her back. Given dat fact, why would you not risk her life by killing her bonded?" she asked cynically.

"I am her kin!" Niall yelled.

"Yes. Dee same kin dat was so blinded by your prejudice against vampires dat you did not see dee evidence of their bond. I am no fairy, but I suspected it dee moment I first saw dem together."

"Do _they_ know about the Fae bond? Why would have the vampire not told me?" Niall demanded.

Octavia shook her head judgmentally as she sneered at the fairy. "I am certain dat Eric Northman knows _nothing_ of fairy bonds. And 'twas not my place to tell dem. I didn't know you would be fool enough to try to take her away from dis realm. Plus, 'twas nothin' could have been done 'bout it! And dee two of dem were not ready to know of it."

Niall glared at her.

"And as for tellin' _you_? I would have thought there'd be no need for dat! After all, you are dee great Niall Brigant, Prince of the Sky Fae," she said sarcastically as she bowed mockingly. "How did _you_ not see dee magic between dem, oh mighty prince?"

"I was angry. I am even more so now!" Niall scoffed. "How could she form a bond with one of _them_?"

Octavia chuckled sardonically, not hiding her distaste for the fairy. "How would Sookie even have known what she was doing when she chose her mate and made her bond? Dee Fae are taught about tings such as bond making. Dis child was taught _nothing_ by you or others of your kind—not how to shield her mind from dee thoughts of others. Not how to feel like a normal child. No! Because you left her alone, she endured much pain and suffering. She learned to tink of herself as a freak." Octavia lifted her chin defiantly. "She formed a bond with dee vampire by instinct—because he was dee first being to look at her in a _true_ way and to see _nothing_ _but_ _beauty_. Inside of herself, she could recognize dat about him—and she, in turn, saw his beauty. Why would she not form a bond with such a man? And how dare you tink of him as unworthy?"

"He is vampire," Niall said with disgust in his voice.

"If you truly cared for dis child, you _could_ have guided her in another way," the witch said, looking down at Sookie. She sighed loudly. "She will _have_ to take Eric's blood now. Only dat will repair what _you_ injured by taking her from him. She _should_ have been able to make dis choice in her own time," the witch added sadly.

"What do you mean?" Niall asked.

Octavia blew out a puff of air in frustration. "Neither your kinswoman nor her vampire is used to feeling or receiving love. Here, in dis place, dey have been working demselves into love slowly—naturally. And dey have learned to trust demselves. Dey would have eventually exchanged blood out of love—not necessity. And dey would have formed a vampire bond to complement dee bond already holding dem together. Dey would have never doubted demselves or each other. But your actions could make dem doubt _all_."

"I had every right to take her; she is my kin!" Niall said stubbornly.

The witch ignored Niall's words and knelt down by the couch. She gently tucked a lose strand of Sookie's hair over her ear. "Dis one is stronger dan one so human should be." She chuckled. "'Tis her stubbornness and her hope dat feed her fire. I knew dat to be true when she survived what dee vampire—Compton—tried to do to her during the severing and with his woven dreams. And now she has proven it again by holding so tightly to her mate dat it almost killed her. Still, I fear for dem. Eric will likely not take dis well."

"What do you mean? A Fae of the Sky Clan bonded with him! What do you mean that he will not take it well?" Niall yelled out.

Octavia sighed. "Dee vampire and dis child are both stubborn and wary of having their control taken from dem. Dee reason why Eric did not leave blood in her during dee severing spell was so dat she could know her own feelings. Now dey will _both_ doubt what dey feel. Dey will both believe dat the Fae bond she made took away their choices."

"It did," Niall sneered. "The moment it was forged, the vampire would have been drawn to her like no other."

"Yes," Octavia sighed. "And dat fact will make dee Viking feel like all his emotions are constructs of dee bond—just as Sookie once worried dat all of hers were due to vampire blood. 'Twill take dem a while to understand dat she _asked_ him to be hers with her light and dat he accepted. Dey will not understand, for neither one of dem has much experience in dee way of trust—or of love."

"Northman should be honored that my great-granddaughter chose him," Niall said, his voice haughty.

"Aye," Octavia agreed. "And he chose her in return. But dat was _before_ dey loved each other. So dey will not trust."

"Then they are fools," Niall said.

"And so are we all fools sometimes—when it comes to love," Octavia said sadly.

The fairy's face softened a little. "Yes." He studied his sleeping great-granddaughter for a moment. "I do not approve of her choice," he said after a few minutes of silence had passed.

Octavia picked up a bloody dishtowel and a short note from the coffee table. She handed Niall the note. "Read dis," she said.

Niall read aloud.

_Dearest Sookie, _

_ I miss you. _

_ If this finds you, I want you to know that your personal items are still in our home in Slidell. In our bedroom. _

_ I will always think of it as ours—and you as mine. (Though I am certain you would fight me on that.)_

_ Could has become do. _

_Yours,_

_Eric Northman_

"There are many of dese around," Octavia said, as she held up the bloody rag. "The vampire cried many tears for her. But I imagine your approval is just as far from him as it was before."

Niall sighed. "The bond she made with him could very well have created the love that made those tears and formed these words."

"Dat is what Eric will tink too," the witch said sadly. "And dee child will always worry dat his love is not true—dat she forced him to love her." She chuckled ruefully even as she brushed a tear from her own eye. "Before Sookie, Eric did not believe he could love—not romantically. And, before Eric, Sookie did not believe dat she deserved love. Dey will likely fall back to those false beliefs."

"Then they are doomed to their unhappiness, for they can no longer be apart," Niall said with a twinge of regret.

"Not as far apart as you would make dem be," Octavia said, looking at Niall accusingly.

"The more they are together, the harder it will be for them if they try to part." He shook his head. "Even if they are both in the same realm, more than a short separation will bring them much pain. That is why Fae bonds are so discouraged. I did not imagine it would be something to worry about with Sookie," Niall confessed. "I had stifled her spark. There were very few situations that could have relit it. Plus, she is only one-eighth Fae. I have never heard of one with so little blood having a strong enough spark to form a Fae bond."

Octavia sighed as Sookie groaned in her sleep. "She would rest easier next to her chosen one. It is still a few hours before he will wake, and 'twould be best if they were near to each other so that no more damage can be done to the bond."

Niall sighed heavily, but scooped Sookie up into his arms anyway; this time, he was gentle in his movements. "You know the way," he said to the witch.

Octavia led Niall up the stairs and into the bedroom where Eric was dead for the day. The vampire's body was completely vulnerable, despite the fact that it was fully cocooned in the bedcovers. The witch noted that—had he needed to breathe—Eric would have likely suffocated himself because he had so firmly buried his nose into the pillow he was using. There were blood stains on the pillow case.

Niall sighed again as Octavia lifted up the sheets on the side opposite of Eric Northman's body. The fairy gently placed Sookie next to the vampire and watched impassively as Octavia shaped his great-granddaughter's body so that it molded against the vampire's. It was immediately evident that Sookie's breathing had eased.

Octavia covered the girl lovingly.

Niall didn't say a word as he left the bedroom, intent to be away from the sight of his kin and the vampire. His people had always loathed and feared the un-dead. In fact, their best defense against the monsters of the night had been to stay away from them. And, if that failed, then they would use their blood to make the vampires drunk in order to disorient them long enough to kill them. Many fairies had sacrificed their lives in order to incapacitate vampires so that their kin could survive.

Niall's uneasy alliance with Godric had been to save his child Magellen who had been trapped by a coven of witches who also held Godric's maker. Able to hide his scent, Niall had spotted the vampire getting ready to attack the coven, and the two had decided to join forces. During the ensuing fight, Niall had almost died as he'd shielded his badly injured daughter from an iron sword wielded by one of the witches. But Godric had stepped in and had taken the sword strike. In effect, the vampire had saved both Niall and his beloved daughter. Of course, the monster inside of Godric had soon reared its ugly head as he drained several witches in order to recover. And then—because Magellen could not mask her scent—the crazed vampire had come after her as well! Niall had barely been able to teleport his daughter and himself back to Faerie before the vampire bit.

Recalling both Godric's honor and his frenzy, the fairy returned to the living room and sat heavily onto the couch. Niall had already decided that he should stay in order to explain the Fae bond to Sookie and her vampire. He owed his great-granddaughter that much before exiting her life. Perhaps the witch had been right in that he shouldn't have left Sookie in the dark about her Fae heritage. However, Niall would not dwell on the past. He could live only in the now. Experiencing time differentials between Faerie and other realms had taught him that.

"Dey are resting together," Octavia said as she came back into the living room a few minutes later. "I lit some dandelion blossoms to help dem rest easier."

"Dandelions are weeds—if I remember correctly," Niall said with a sneer.

"Aye," Octavia chuckled. "But something is only seen as a weed if it is stronger den dat which people want to take root. I have seen dee dandelion used in remedies of many kinds." She paused. "I thought dee dandelions matched dee tenacity of dee two upstairs. There are so many small things dat could prove their love—if dey but open their hearts to dem. Let us hope dat dee wind takes those things and plants dem firmly into dee ground."

Niall didn't respond to the witch's hope, and the two supernatural beings remained silent for a long time.

"I did not expect this visit to end up as it has," Niall said finally. Resignation laced his tone.

Octavia cackled. "It seems there is already a weed in _your_ garden den!"

* * *

Eric woke up to find that his prayers to Odin had been answered and immediately wondered if he'd gone insane sometime during his day-death.

"Sookie," he said as he pulled her body closer to his.

He shook his head to clear it. She seemed real.

He stretched out his senses, and his fangs immediately snapped down. Niall and Octavia were downstairs, but they were stationary at the moment. He assessed the woman in his arms. She was weak, much weaker than when she'd been taken from him. But she was real.

"Sookie," he said again as he nuzzled into her hair and took in her scent. He wanted to bite into her—literally and figuratively—but he kept the beast inside of him at bay. She was unwell, and he needed to know why. He needed to know what he could do for her.

The vampire disentangled himself from Sookie and quickly dressed. That done, he carefully picked her up, retrieved the quilt from their bed, and carried her down the stairs. In that moment, the vampire was certain of only one thing: he was not willing to let her leave his sight again.

Octavia and Niall were sitting on the couch, but did not even look at him when he walked into the room. It was just after sunset. Eric had expected to wake up a bit sooner, but the previous night and his blood loss must have weakened him. However, he now felt whole again, for the empty place inside of his body was filling with light once more.

Once more, his soul was a living thing.

Gently, he placed Sookie into an oversized chair next to the couch before wrapping her up into the quilt. Then he turned his attention to building a fire. Sookie's body temperature was cooler than normal, and he knew that he could not provide her with warmth from his own body, but the fire and the quilt would be enough to do what he could not.

He kept a wary eye on his "guests" as he quickly and wordlessly performed his task. Then he picked Sookie back up and sat into the chair, curling her into his lap. She was still sleeping very soundly.

"She will need your blood," Niall said stiffly. "If she is to heal, she _must_ have it."

Eric stiffened and pulled her body closer. "No. Not unless she is awake and asks for it—not unless it is her choice!" he said vehemently.

"Neither one of you ever had much choice," Octavia said sadly. "She will stay as she is without your blood. And dat is not a fate dis child would choose."

"What do you mean?" Eric asked.

Niall sighed. "I will say what must be said only once, and it will _not_ be while she is unconscious." His voice softened as much as it could as he addressed the vampire, but it was still gruff. "You should take her blood as well. An exchange would help to heal what has been damaged."

"I will _not_ take her blood," Eric hissed insistently. "She is too weak."

"She is _not_ weak 'cause of lack of blood, Viking," Octavia said kindly. "She is weak from a lack of connection, and you are dee only thing in dee universe dat can fix dat problem."

"What are you talking about?" Eric asked insistently. "She and I have no blood tie!"

Niall sighed deeply. "There are _many_ kinds of ties in the world." He held up the short note Eric had written. "If she is yours, then you _must_ take her blood. If you belong to her, then you _must_ give her your blood."

Niall crumpled up the note and threw it into the fire—almost as if by burning it, he could burn the vampire who had written it.

Eric looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms. "Not with you two here," he said curtly. If he was to do an exchange with Sookie—_force_ an exchange—then it would not be for an audience.

"I'll just introduce Niall to iced tea den," Octavia said, standing up. "Would you care for lemon?" she asked with a grin on her face.

Niall growled a little, but stood up. "We will stay in the kitchen until you call," the elder fairy said before walking out of the room. Octavia was a step behind him, but stopped at the doorway.

"Dee way tings happen does not necessarily ruin their significance," Octavia said knowingly. "Dee woman who gave you her light will not hate you for creating a blood tie." She turned and left the room quietly.

Hoping that the witch was right, Eric looked back down at the woman in his arms—the woman he'd been certain that he'd never see again.

The woman he loved.

* * *

**A/N: Good morning! First of all—thanks for all the wonderful/nervous/excited comments about this story so far! I am so happy that so many have followed me to this sequel already. I'm happy to be able to give you a third chapter! However, this will be all for this story this week. I have to grade some essays I've been putting off, and I need to continue drafting part 3 of the UN-trilogy.**

**I hope that I've made those of you who were fearing a long separation feel a little better. However, I've gone and opened another can of worms—haven't I?**

**Up Next: A blood tie is formed and a happy reunion is shared….but will that happiness last once Niall tells Eric and Sookie about the Fae tie?**

**Until then,  
**

**Kat**

**Remember to visit my blog to see Seph's art (californiakat1564. wordpress. com). **


	4. Chapter 4: Bonds and Chains

**Chapter 04: Bonds and Chains**

** Last Time:** _Niall growled a little, but stood up. "We will stay in the kitchen until you call," the elder fairy said before walking out of the room. Octavia was a step behind him, but stopped at the doorway. _

_ "Dee way tings happen does not necessarily ruin their significance," Octavia said knowingly. "Dee woman who gave you her light will not hate you for creating a blood tie." She turned and left the room quietly. _

_ Hoping that the witch was right, Eric looked back down at the woman in his arms—the woman he'd been certain that he'd never see again. _

_ The woman he loved._

* * *

"Ek elska þik," Eric said in a whisper, the ancient language of his parents slipping like smooth silk from his tongue.

"I love you," he translated, even more quietly, barely brushing the words against Sookie's skin as he kissed her forehead.

He stood up, taking her with him before setting her back into the chair. He quickly grabbed the blanket on the back of the couch and made a pallet on the floor in front of the fire. He grabbed some throw pillows so that he could ensure Sookie's comfort, and then he settled them both in front of the fire. He unwrapped the quilt from around her so that he could feel her body against his. But he placed her closer to the fire so that she would receive its warmth. Then, he covered them both with the warm quilt.

"For my people, a fire meant life because it gave both heat and light," Eric said in a low voice, hoping that the fairy wouldn't be able to hear. "For my other people—vampires—blood is life." He paused and looked at the fire for a moment. "For me, you are my heat and my light. And you are quickly becoming the focus of my life. I cannot say how or why or when this happened, but it is the truth, little one. I wish that you were awake right now so that you could choose me as I choose you, but you will not awaken unless I choose for both of us."

He sighed as he looked into the fire. "Please choose me, Sookie. Please, do not hate me when you wake up," he said into the flame before biting into his wrist. He let the blood pool before putting the wound up to Sookie's mouth. She was unresponsive as first, so he used his fingers to gently massage the blood down her throat. "Please," he whispered.

Sookie began to swallow, and with each gulp, Eric felt that his blood was going home into her. However, this time, it was different. Bill's blood was not there, interfering with his at every turn. Eric felt himself being welcomed by Sookie's very essence. He closed his eyes and savored the feeling, for he had never experienced anything like it before. It was warmer than any fire he'd ever felt. It was richer than any flavor he'd ever tasted.

Sookie was beginning to move a little—to feed more forcefully from him. In that moment, Eric would have let her have everything—take everything. She moaned and he pressed into her, wishing he was as bare as his blood inside of her.

"Eric," she gasped around his wound as she became slightly more aware. She bit into him and he was undone. His fangs had clicked down as soon as his blood hit her system, but now he allowed them to pierce her skin for the first time. He bit into her neck, seeking her blood more gently than he'd ever sought sustenance.

In truth, being gentle was the only thing that made sense to him—despite his vampiric nature. He felt the need to revere the woman who sustained his soul. He'd tasted her only one other time, and that blood had not been fresh from her body. But tasting her like this—in front of a fire, even as she took of him in exchange—was so much more.

The word for the divine afterlife had not changed much between the language of his parents and modern Swedish—or even English. Eric had learned it as "himinn." But it had not applied to simply the afterlife. It had applied to the kind of contentment that could be obtained if one was at peace with himself or herself. Modern Swedes used the word "himlen." In Old English, the word was "heofon." Sookie would understand the word as "heaven."

As a vampire, Eric had lost understanding the word—in any of the languages he knew. How could a vampire contemplate the afterlife when his life on earth could last forever? But now—drinking Sookie's blood and having her drink his—the concept became clear to him.

Heaven was not some faraway place. It was not a mead-hall in Asgard. It was in the heart of the woman in his arms.

Eric forced himself to stop after taking a few sips. He licked Sookie's wound, careful not to spill a single drop of his ambrosia.

Sookie was more cognizant now, licking his wound as well. She had been more or less on her back on the floor, but now she turned toward him.

"Eric," she whispered, her eyes opening and taking in the fact that she was in the Slidell house with her vampire.

_Her home. Her vampire._

"Sookie," he whispered.

Their eyes finally met—her recognition meeting his passion. And by the next moment, their lips had met too. Their blood mixed in their mouths as they drank in each other with a fervent kiss.

Eric wanted Sookie with everything inside of him. His cock was hard and ready. His hands were explorative. His lips asked and then yielded to hers.

And Sookie was just as eager to take and to yield. She'd awoken to paradise, even as she'd fallen asleep to hell. Her core was on fire, and her underwear was a melted puddle as she tried to stretch her leg around Eric's.

Eric gave them one minute in the paradise of each other. Hands and mouths and legs and tongues. Nothing was off limits. He even allowed himself to palm her breast and found that it was exactly as he'd imagined—supple and the perfect fit for his hand. In return, her hands were all over his ass, gripping and squeezing and trying to pull their bodies together using that perfectly formed body part as her leverage.

One minute came too soon, but Eric forced his mouth to separate from hers.

"Sookie," he whispered.

"Eric?" she said, clearly still asking—still wanting to make sure she was with him and not dreaming or dead.

"Yes," he answered.

"Why am I back here?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "But you are here. Do you remember anything that happened after you left?"

She shivered in his arms. "I felt myself moving away, and there was this pain that came over me. It hurt so bad I thought I was dying."

I gripped her closer.

"I heard voices," she went on. "Niall was asking what I'd done, and another voice—a kind voice—was telling him to bring me back. But that's all I remember."

"How long were you there?" he asked.

"Maybe thirty seconds?" Sookie responded uncertainly.

He sighed. "Time was not unkind, little one. You were gone no more than fifteen hours here."

"Eric? Why do I taste blood in my mouth?" she asked as her eyes fully focused for the first time since she'd been back.

He looked for judgment in those eyes, but found none. Still he was nervous. Would she hate having his blood in her again? Would she doubt her feelings again? Would she doubt him?

He spoke nervously, "Whatever happened to you during the time you were gone weakened you. Niall brought you back, and Octavia is here as well. They said that the only way you would wake up was if I gave you my blood. They said that I should take some of yours as well, but they didn't offer much of an explanation for why. I believe that Niall intends to explain what happened now that you are awake."

"Niall's still here?" Sookie asked, licking her lips absentmindedly in a way that greatly distracted the vampire.

"Yes," Eric said, looking at her lips for a moment before returning his gaze to her eyes.

"I won't go with him again," she averred quietly. "When I got to wherever it was he took me to, I felt like my body was going to be ripped in two. I hurt so badly."

"He cannot take you there again," Eric assured, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "No one with vampire blood can pass into Faerie."

"Vampire blood will hinder Breandan and Mab from finding you as well," Niall said from the doorway of the living room.

Sookie—aided by Eric—scrambled to a sitting position as the witch and the elder fairy came back into the room.

"You were to wait until I called you back in," Eric growled irritably.

"I got tired of waiting," Niall said snidely.

As Octavia and Niall retook their places on the couch, Eric shifted his body so that he was leaning against the oversized chair he'd been sitting in before. Not wanting to let go of Sookie, especially given their recent blood exchange, he was happy when she slid over and leaned against his body. He made sure that the pallet moved with her and then covered her once more with the quilt from their bed. Still a little weak, she rested her head onto his broad chest as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to support her.

Niall looked at their position on the floor judgmentally; however, Eric ignored the disdain on the fairy's face.

The vampire felt rooted in the woman and in the home and in the hearth that had somehow been built between them during the past weeks. It was on this floor that they'd lain in each other's arms for comfort during the severing spell. And now, it was on this floor that they'd begun a blood bond based on love. And it was on this floor—right at that very moment—that Eric first _felt_ Sookie's love for him through the blood tie they'd just made.

Niall sighed and looked directly at Sookie. "The vampire's blood will not make it _impossible_ for Mab and Breandan to find you, but as long as they do not know you are alive and do not know to look for you, I believe you will be safe enough from them as long as you are with the vampire."

"What happened when you took me away? Why did I feel like I was dyin'? Why did you keep askin' me what I'd done? Who was that woman I saw?" Sookie asked her questions in quick succession.

Niall chose to answer her last question first. "The woman was Claudette, one of my granddaughters from my Fae wife. You may think of Claudette as a cousin if you wish."

"She looked familiar to me," Sookie remarked.

"Her twin sister is your guardian of sorts. It was she—Claudine—whom I had watching over you after your grandfather and parents were killed."

"Oh. Like a fairy godmother?" Sookie asked, having to—despite the tension in the room—refrain from giggling at the absurdity of the idea.

"Something like that," Niall said wryly. "Claudine was assigned to keep an eye on you and to protect you if any Fae came after you. You should never have seen her, so she shouldn't have looked familiar to you," he added gruffly.

Sookie shrugged. "I can't remember a specific time when I did see her; it was just a feeling that I knew her."

Niall nodded as if pacified by her response.

"So I had a fairy godmother—all this time?" Sookie mused. "I get why she couldn't help me with vampires around, but why didn't she help me when I was attacked by Rene or the Werewolf?" she asked. "They both attacked me during the day time. And why didn't she help with . . . ." She stopped and sunk further into Eric.

"Her uncle Bartlett," Eric finished for her.

Niall addressed his response to Sookie. "The situation with your uncle was regrettable, but by the time Claudine was assigned to watch over you, your grandmother had already ordered him away. There is a time difference between Faerie and here. Several months went by here between the time Fintan died and the time I came to see Adele Stackhouse. It was only then that I found out you were alive."

"Okay," Sookie said, glad at least to know that her fairy family hadn't been around when her Uncle Bartlett was abusing her. But she was especially glad for Eric in that moment. His arm had tightened around her, and the pressure of his touch made her feel safe—protected.

"As for the other times you were in danger—," Niall said as if it were obvious, "_none_ of those enemies were fairies. Claudine had been tasked with keeping you safe from them. Plus, Claudine could not be with you at all times—especially after you began associating with," he paused and looked scornfully at Eric, "_his_ kind. As your kin, she would have sensed if you were in danger and teleported near you. But she was only to reveal herself in a case that was dire."

Given the fact that she'd almost died several times, Sookie wondered what would be needed to make a case _dire_. "Why couldn't Claudine ever introduce herself and tell me what I was?" Sookie asked. Knowing that there had been a fairy close by for most of her life—someone who might have befriended her and helped her with her telepathy—was what made Sookie the most angry at her great-grandfather.

"I determined that it was best that you did _not_ know," Niall said unashamedly. "And Claudine is bound to obey my wishes. But—now—we must move forward instead of looking to the past."

Sookie sighed. She'd not expected an apology from Niall. But it would have been nice to understand his reasoning. When it came to his mostly-human descendants, it seemed that the fairy took little notice unless there was a spark present in them. And once he'd prevented her spark from showing itself, he seemed to have pretty much written her off as well, except for providing a guardian that couldn't really protect her at all when it all came down to it. Niall's choices and actions had hurt her—had damaged her. And Sookie realized as she looked at the stern-faced fairy in front of her that she'd never get what she really wanted from him: a family.

"Why did you bring Sookie back?" Eric asked. "And why was she so ill?"

Niall leaned forward a little, his eyes piercing into the couple sitting on the floor.

"Sookie could not exist in Faerie because of a bond she has formed in this realm. As soon as she was in Faerie, that bond began to stretch for its complement in this realm. The severity of her reaction was proportional to the strength of that bond and her unwillingness to let go of it."

"What do you mean a bond?" Sookie asked, sitting up straighter.

Eric too had tensed next to her. "But I felt no vampire bond in her," Eric said. "What you say isn't possible."

Niall ignored Eric and looked at Sookie. "It is a Fae bond. You have formed a Fae bond with the Norseman," he said accusingly, not even trying to hide his disgust at the fact.

"What are you talking about?" Eric asked. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"It matters _not_ what you have heard of, vampire," Niall said through clenched teeth. "You would not have heard of this kind of bond because you have _no_ business in fairy affairs." He scowled. "A Fae has _never_ formed a bond with a vampire—or a human for that matter. Fae bonds are _only_ formed between two fairies, and, even then, they are very rare—perhaps one is formed every hundred years or so."

Octavia scoffed. "Apparently, dee rules are changing," she said under her breath.

"Back up!" Sookie said apprehensively. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't form a bond with Eric. I didn't even know I was part fairy until a few hours ago!"

"You did not know what you were doing, child, but I sensed there was something strong between you and dis vampire when I met you. I had heard only rumors of Fae bonds existing, so I was not sure about what I sensed until I saw you place your light into Eric without harm coming to him," Octavia said gently. "You _should_ have been told of bonds by your kin," she added, looking at Niall critically.

Niall growled next to her. "Without her spark, forming a bond would have been impossible for Sookie! And—as I told you before, witch—one with so little Fae blood should _not_ have been able to form one anyway! It has never happened before. And certainly never with a vampire! It's impossible!"

Octavia glared at the fairy prince. "I am beginning to tink dat you don't understand dee meaning of dee words, 'never' and 'impossible,' fairy. You should have sensed dee bond as soon as you saw dem."

"Yes," Niall confessed quietly, though with no contrition in his voice. "I will admit that I should have sensed a bond; however, it was not even something I could imagine happening."

While the two supernaturals on the couch had quarreled with each other, a shift had occurred on the floor. Sookie was now sitting a little further away from Eric, their only physical contact being her knee touching his leg. She was having a hard time understanding the fact that she had formed a Fae bond with Eric; she didn't even know what one was.

For his part, Eric no longer felt grounded to the floor. The roots which he'd celebrated being planted between Sookie and himself moments before seemed almost like chains now. He thought about the feeling of Sookie being gone from him and focused his blood to examine the site from which his pain had come. He had thought it was his soul, a soul that was empty without her—but a soul nonetheless.

Now the vampire knew that was not the case. What he'd been feeling was a bond. He struggled to remember when he first noticed it, but he couldn't pinpoint its birth. All he knew was that it had been growing inside of him for a while.

He had thought that growing thing was his love for Sookie. Now—he was not sure. A vampire could use a tie to affect the emotions of a human. And with a bond, both vampire and human could share and affect emotions. What if a Fae bond was similar?

Eric interrupted the bickering fairy and witch.

"How is a Fae bond formed? And what is its effect?" he asked in a cold tone.

Sookie shivered and pulled the quilt around her even as she moved toward the fire.

Niall turned to look at the two on the floor. He smiled slightly when he saw the new, subtle distance between them. On the other hand, Octavia frowned and sighed sadly. She wondered what would become of Eric, whom she had always liked, and Sookie, whom her heart had gone out to like a mother.

"A Fae who has decided to bond needs only to give his or her light to the one he or she has chosen. It is done with a single touch," Niall said.

"But I didn't _decide_. I didn't choose," Sookie said insistently, looking over at Eric as if praying for his understanding. He wasn't looking back at her. He was looking at Niall.

"In your case, great-granddaughter, the choice would not have been conscious," Niall said, shifting a little uncomfortably in his seat.

"I believe you recognized dis vampire as dee _only_ being to ever look at you with both truth and acceptance in his eyes," Octavia said, hoping that both Sookie and Eric would see the truth in her words—that they would quell the distance growing between them due to their uncertainties about themselves. "'Tis only _trust_ dat could have forged such a bond."

Niall sighed. "The witch is right in that respect, child. You could not have formed a bond with the vampire unless you trusted him unreservedly."

"But I didn't always trust Eric," Sookie said quietly, not looking directly at Eric, but seeing him flinch nonetheless.

"I was not always trustworthy," the vampire admitted, also in a quiet voice.

"I am talking of a different kind of trust," Niall said. "Ironically, it has very little to do with actions. It is instinctive."

"I don't understand," Sookie said, sounding a little defeated.

"Even if Eric broke your trust to a certain extent—as I'm sure he would have, given his high-handed nature," Octavia chuckled a little, "you would have known—on dee inside—dat you could trust him with dee most important part of yourself: your very essence."

Niall sighed. "As a rule, fairies are taught not to bond, and it is usually in their nature _not_ to bond either."

"Why did I bond then? How could I do it without knowing it?" Sookie asked.

"Your _human_ side probably compelled you," Niall said somewhat disdainfully. "You were obviously looking to make a connection with someone since the only one who had ever truly cared for you—your grandmother—had recently died," he continued matter-of-factly. "You were lonely and looking for someone willing to be your companion."

Sookie let out a little sob.

Octavia glared at Niall. "You speak too harshly, fairy!" She softened her tone as she turned back to Sookie. "You were seeking something you'd never found before, child: a true connection. There is nothing wrong with craving dat. We all do—you know."

"So I formed a bond because I was lonely? Because I was pathetic? Because I knew no one would want me otherwise?" Sookie asked, feeling all of her self-doubts flooding through her like a tidal wave. Her fingers itched to reach out for Eric, but she wrapped them into the quilt instead. There was nothing about Eric's demeanor that told her that he would even accept her touch, let alone offer her comfort. And she was beginning to understand that all the care he had been showing her had originated from a bond that she had unknowingly forced upon him.

"What are the effects of a Fae bond?" Eric asked, repeating his question from earlier.

"Before you hear of the effects, you need to understand that a Fae bond cannot form unless it is _accepted_," Niall said punitively. "So _you_ were just as responsible for it as she was, vampire."

"I understand," Eric said detachedly. "Sookie unknowingly offered a fairy bond, and I unknowingly accepted it. Now—what are the _effects_?" he demanded once more.

The Viking had to restrain himself from taking Sookie into his arms. He could smell her tears now, and her harsh words directed at herself had stung him more than silver. However, all of his feelings for her seemed to be coming from what he now recognized was the fairy bond—a foreign thing that had taken him over and that was trying to control him.

How could he trust that any of his feelings for Sookie were his own? How could he trust anything anymore?

* * *

**A/N: Well—here you go. I hope you are ready for some angst as Eric and Sookie work through this hurdle. I will tell you this much: they will be working through it together—which, considering the issues they both have with trust and "feelings"—is a step in the right direction for them. **

**Thanks to everyone who commented on the last series of chapters. So appreciated! Speaking of thanks, the **_**UN-Series**_** (**_**Uninvited**_** and **_**Uncharted**_**) has been recognized with two You Want Blood Awards! It got second place in the Flying Monkey (Best Villain) Award for Russell, who is pissed that Appius (from my **_**Comfortably Numb**_** series) beat him. And this series was also awarded 1****st**** place for the Edge of your Seat Award (for best cliffhangers). Thanks to all who voted for me! **

**Next up: Eric and Sookie learn more about how the Fae bond works. **

**Until then,**

**Kat**

**P.S. Just in case you are interested, this chapter was the first one I outlined in the **_**UN-Series**_**. I drafted it about three years ago. There is a moment in **_**Back and Forth**_** (which I was working on at the time) when Eric and Sookie discover that a Fae bond has formed between them. That pair (having lived through most of the events of season 4) accepts that Fae bond. This pair is at a different point in their evolution as individuals and as a couple. While I was writing **_**B & F**_**, I asked myself, "What if Eric and Sookie had a harder time accepting the forming of a Fae bond?" And this story stemmed from that thought. **


	5. Chapter 5: The Fae Bond

**Chapter 05: The Fae Bond**

_ "I understand," Eric said detachedly. "Sookie unknowingly offered a fairy bond, and I unknowingly accepted it. Now—what are the effects?" he demanded once more. _

_ The Viking had to restrain himself from taking Sookie into his arms. He could smell her tears now, and her harsh words directed at herself had stung him more than silver. However, all of his feelings for her seemed to be coming from what he now recognized was the fairy bond—a foreign thing that had taken him over and that was trying to control him. _

_ How could he trust that any of his feelings for Sookie were his own? How could he trust anything anymore?_

* * *

"I can say only what happens between two Fae. There may be differences since you are vampire," Niall directed at Eric.

"Understood," Eric said. "Now speak."

Niall glared at the vampire who was daring to order him to do anything, but he answered anyway. "A Fae bond works to draw two souls together into one. The two Fae become partners in all things. Their love is enduring—even into the Summerlands. Yet, as idealistic as all this sounds, there are drawbacks."

"What are they?" Eric asked.

Niall sighed. "A Fae bond cannot be undone. There is no magic that can sever it or lessen it. The two become so enmeshed into each other's spirits that they cannot be separated. That is why taking Sookie to Faerie almost killed her. You also would have felt that pain, but yours would have been spread out to match the time difference. What she felt as concentrated pain in the seconds she was in Faerie would have been mitigated by the fact that it did not come at you all at once."

"Does the Fae bond create feelings that are not there?" Eric asked.

Again, he could hear Sookie crying softly, but he kept his eyes on Niall.

Niall sighed. "Where there is respect, it will create devotion. Where there is trust, it will create faith. Where there is affection, it will create love. So the answer to your question is yes and no. The bond takes all that is within a pair—all that _could_ make the bond stronger—and it works to multiply those things exponentially."

"So if Sookie intrigued me before?" Eric asked.

"You would want to learn everything about her, and you would care about all that you learned."

At this, Eric stood up and walked toward the window. "The same would be true for her?" the vampire asked.

"Yes."

Eric nodded as he looked unseeingly out into the dark backyard. All of their conversations—all of the intimate moments when they had come to know each other—had felt sacred to him. Now he knew that they'd not been driven by either of them, but by a bond that had made him completely vulnerable to her—and her to him. That was why he'd opened himself to her—trusted her with memories and thoughts that he'd not shared with anyone else, not even his maker.

No wonder he'd been so twisted up with contradictory feelings about her! His nature had been telling him to kill her—or, at least, to cut all ties with her. But the fairy bond had been compelling him to do the opposite. And, apparently, it could not be fought against.

Sookie was weeping openly now, and Octavia had gone over to her and now held her in her arms. The witch was rocking her. "'Twill be okay, child," she soothed.

But Sookie did not believe it would be. She'd thought that Eric had wanted to know her—that he'd _liked_ what he'd found inside of her. She'd thought they'd been falling in love. But how could she know anything anymore? All she was sure about was that she'd made a bond that had compelled Eric to want to be with her. She'd taken away his choice, just as much as Bill had ever taken away hers. No—she'd taken it away even more, for the Fae bond couldn't be broken.

"So if I was attracted to Sookie before?" Eric asked.

"You would become even more enthralled by her beauty—until she eclipsed all others," Niall responded.

"Do not confuse tings dat are compelled with tings dat are untrue," Octavia cautioned fervently. "What has grown between you both is no less true dan if it had been formed another way," she added. "Your feelings for one another _can_ make you stronger. Those feelings will mean dat you are in complete sync with your helpmeet."

"The witch is correct," Niall admitted, though somewhat unwillingly. "Bonded Fae couples are often very strong. But they are weaker too in one way."

"They are each other's weakness," Eric said.

"Yes," Niall said. "If one is hurt, the other hurts."

"Den again," Octavia added, "if one is injured, dee other can better heal him or her. You have seen dat more dan once. Eric, why else would you have been able to do all you did in Sookie's blood? And, Sookie, why else would have been able to heal dee vampire with your light? Only with dee bond were these tings possible."

Eric seemingly ignored Octavia. "And if one of us dies?" he asked Niall.

"When it is two fairies, the other one dies too," Niall said. "But the bonded pair tends to live _longer_ together because of the bond. I do not know what will happen to you, vampire. You are un-dead and may not die if the bond dies."

"What of Sookie's lifespan?" Eric asked Niall. "Will it be a human lifespan? Will I be forced to turn her if I wish to guarantee that I live on?"

Sookie whimpered in Octavia's arms.

Niall responded. "Now that my great-granddaughter's spark has truly come to life, her aging will slow down. And do not humans also age more slowly if they have vampire blood?"

"Yes," Eric said.

"Then you should consider giving her blood regularly. That should slow down her aging. Her grandfather died at 714 years of age, but it was not from natural causes. I am over 2,000 years old. My great-granddaughter's spark is as strong as Fintan's, but her blood is not as Fae. Thus, it is difficult to know how she will age. But I believe you will have time before you must do anything," he paused, "drastic. I caution you against turning her, however—unless it is as a last resort. It might kill the spark within her, for fairies are creatures of the light. And that might be enough to kill the fairy bond—and both of you with it."

Eric took in what Niall had said and looked back at Sookie for a moment before looking once more out the window. "You said we could not be separated. What does that mean?"

Niall sighed. "You may be able to be apart for a day or two within this realm, but there would eventually be a bonding sickness if you tried to stay apart longer than that."

"But we have spent many days apart," Eric said. "And I never felt anything before."

"The bond was likely still in the maturation stages then," Niall reported. "But did you not find reasons to seek out each other? To be in each other's presence if only for a moment? Did you not feel more apprehensive when you were apart?"

Sookie thought about the day Bill had gone missing. She'd wanted to seek out Eric then; she'd wanted to see him and had felt better after having confronted him—even though he'd been naked and screwing Yvetta at the time. The next night, she'd returned to Fangtasia. The next night after that, he'd come to her. A few nights after that, she'd seen him again—at Russell's mansion—and, if she were being honest—she had been relieved to see him there. No—it had been _more_ than relief; she'd felt as if she could breathe again as soon as she'd laid eyes on him. And then, only one night after they'd been together at Russell's mansion, Eric had come for her in the hospital, and since then, they'd not spent any nights apart.

Even as Sookie was thinking about their encounters since Dallas, Eric was thinking of the same. He was also thinking about how he'd tried to use Yvetta to drive away his thoughts of Sookie. It hadn't worked.

Niall interrupted the bonded pair's musings. "The longer you are together, the less time you can spend apart comfortably before the bonds inside of you begin to stretch for one another."

Eric sighed. "So you are saying that we will have to be close in proximity to each other for the remainder of our lives?"

"Unless you want those lives to be fraught with illness and pain—and short," Niall responded, "yes, you will have to stay close to each other."

"And being close will make further separations even more difficult?" Eric asked bitterly.

"Yes," Niall said. "And, if you are asking if there is a way to escape from the bond—there is not."

Eric looked at Octavia. "Do you know a way?"

"No," the witch answered, still rocking Sookie in her arms a little. "I will look into the matter. But dee fae bond was not touched by my severing spell—and dat is dee strongest kind of separating spell known to witches."

"I understand," Eric said resignedly.

Octavia sighed. "Dis need not be a bad ting, vampire," Octavia said. "There is strength in partnership."

Eric glared at Octavia for a moment, but said nothing.

"Can you tell _when_ the Fae bond formed?" the vampire asked Niall.

"I cannot be sure," the fairy reported. "Now that I have recognized what it is, I can tell you that the bond is not quite fully mature—though it is close. But that does not tell me when it formed. It would have had to have been _after_ Sookie first took your blood, for that was when her spark became active. And it would have had to have been _before_ the severing spell—if the witch's interpretation of what she felt from you and my great-granddaughter is to be believed." Niall paused for a moment. "Forming the Fae bond would have required physical touch."

Eric looked at Sookie and thought back to when he'd first become aware of his "soul"—which was obviously the bond between them. He looked out the window and began musing, just loud enough for the others to hear. "It was before I came to you in the hospital. I am certain of that. I did not know what I was feeling, but I was compelled to go there by more than just my blood. I had felt discomfort when I was not near you even then."

The vampire looked at Niall. "Would Sookie have needed to initiate the touch?"

"Yes," Niall reported. "And, as I said, though she was the one offering, you would have needed to _accept_ the bond. You would have felt something even if you did not know what it was."

Eric nodded and looked back out the window. He seemed to be going through events in reverse order as he talked out loud, seemingly to both himself and Sookie, though he didn't look at her. "We touched in Jackson, but I initiated that. I do not think it was there. I touched you the night before you left for Jackson—when the Were was in your house. But—again—I initiated that." He closed his eyes and went back another night. "You came to Fangtasia to speak with me about the marking on the Were you and Jessica had found, but I do not remember us touching. And, even before then, I felt myself being pulled to you in a way I had never experienced before. When you cried that night, I am certain I felt something in the place where I now know the Fae bond is located."

The vampire shook his head. "No—it was already there then; I know it. The night before that, you came into the basement while I was fucking Yvetta," he mused, still looking out the window and unconcerned about his vulgar language. "Even then, I was feeling unsatisfied with her; I'd been screwing her for hours and was not yet close to release, and when you left, I couldn't continue—not with your scent lingering in the air." He sighed deeply. "It could have only been on the rooftop then." He glanced at Sookie, who was looking at him as if mesmerized by his reverse telling of their history.

He did not look away from her again, and in many ways, that was more difficult for Sookie.

"Godric had ordered me from the roof, and I knew that I was going to lose him. It was a moment—a second at most—but you reached out for my hand, and we looked at each other. I was not looking at your hand, so I saw no light, but I felt something—something like comfort. And I was," he paused, "thankful for it. It felt like you were saving my life, for—before that—I'd been determined to return to the roof once my maker was gone."

Eric looked at Niall. "That was the night after she took my blood. Her spark would have been active already?"

Niall nodded in confirmation. "Yes. And—from what you say—that was likely the time that the bond was forged."

"So everything after that moment was influenced by the Fae bond?" the Viking asked the elder fairy.

"Yes," Niall said, even as Sookie began to quietly sob again.

"'Twill be okay," Octavia cooed softly.

"What do you mean—okay?" Sookie demanded through her tears, even as she pulled away from Octavia's comfort and stood up. "It's _not_ okay. It's not going to be okay! I was so desperate for a connection to anybody—apparently—that I formed a bond with Eric the first time I touched him after taking his blood! And at the worst moment of his life too! I manipulated him at his most vulnerable time! And _that's_ the only reason he accepted the bond! That's the _only_ reason he accepted me!"

"Sookie," Eric said. "Calm yourself. You are still weak from before, and your heart is beating too fast."

"Calm down?" she asked now laughing hysterically. "How can you—of all people—tell me to be calm? You have just learned that _everything_ after the rooftop has been manipulated by a bond I pushed onto you at your lowest point! Everything we have become is because of that bond!" She was shaking now. "I'm worse than Bill Compton ever thought about being. Because I'm so defective, I have trapped you forever!"

Sookie wobbled on her feet as her world began to spin and then went black.

Eric had Sookie scooped up into his arms before she could hit the floor. He sat them both back into the chair, and though he was cradling her as he'd done earlier, there was an air of detachment from the vampire. But there was also an air of acceptance.

The way he understood things, they had both been manipulated by the fairy bond, and it had effectively trapped them _both_ forever into its grasp. Moreover, he knew that he was just as much to blame as she was. Had he not given her his blood, she wouldn't have been able to form a bond in the first place. He had made himself a part of her _before_ she'd returned the favor. But they were now stuck.

Stuck together—forever.

The best he could do was to try to figure out what was coming from him and what was coming from the bond and act accordingly. He was determined not to let the bond govern him anymore. Otherwise, he would lose himself to it. Looking back at the previous weeks, he realized that _that_ had been what had occurred.

"She has fainted?" Niall asked.

"Yes," Eric reported in an even tone. "Her breathing and heart rate are returning to normal, however. I can feel the bond asking for my aid. Holding her like this seems to be easing her. But I believe that I must give her my blood again for her to awaken."

"That is the bond inducing you to soothe her—to heal her," Niall said coldly.

"As she healed you of dee silver," Octavia reminded, even as she glared at Niall.

Eric nodded at both of them.

"I will be leaving you with this," Niall said, producing a book seemingly out of thin air. "It will help my great-granddaughter to understand how to use her light. That is why you asked for me to come to begin with—correct?"

"Correct," Eric said evenly.

"Your fate and hers are now one and the same, vampire," Niall said. "I wish it were not so, but there is nothing to be done for it. I would ask you to take care of her, but I know it is not required of me to do so now. If you have survived for a thousand years, then you understand how to do that already."

"Yes," Eric responded.

"Do you have any further questions for me before I leave?" Niall asked stiffly, though wearily. "I do _not_ intend to return to this realm again for a while."

"Can she get help with her powers? Perhaps from this Claudine you mentioned earlier?"

"No!" Niall snapped sharply. "My granddaughter is going to return to Faerie, and I will not risk her by letting her be around _you_."

Eric sighed. That was the answer he'd expected from the fairy; however, he had asked for Sookie's sake. "I ask for a compromise then," the vampire said.

"What?" Niall asked gruffly.

"It seems that the time difference between our two realms favors Faerie now in that a day here would be less than a minute there—correct?"

"Yes. It is about that now, though the tide will begin to shift again soon enough."

Eric nodded. "I ask that Sookie be allowed one day—only during the daylight—with her cousin, Claudine, in one week's time. That will give Sookie time enough to read through the book you are leaving and to generate any questions she might want to ask. Claudine's interaction with her would mean only minutes more away from Faerie, and then she could go back to your realm."

Niall considered for a moment. "I agree to this."

"I will leave word with Cataliades about a location."

"Claudine will come _only_ during the daytime," Niall rejoined.

"Of course," Eric said.

"And Sookie and she must meet in the sunlight—_outside_—not in a dwelling of any kind."

"Agreed," Eric said with a frustrated sigh. "In one week's time, I will make sure that we are in a secluded place so that Sookie and Claudine may safely meet during the _day_. Sookie will meet her outside of that place, and Claudine will leave _before_ nightfall. And Claudine will _not_ be allowed into the home since I will be resting there."

Niall nodded. "Agreed. After that, Sookie cannot expect to have any contact with her fairy kin. Her involvement with _you_ will effectively end our involvement with her."

"She will not expect more," Eric said evenly. He caught himself unconsciously stroking Sookie's hair and immediately stopped the action.

"Is there anything else?" Niall asked somewhat impatiently.

"The child—Hunter. Sookie wants to help him. I have Cataliades searching, but it would be easier if . . . ," he began.

Niall interrupted. "Fine, I will tell the demon the last known location of the child in order to facilitate your search."

Eric nodded.

"Is that all?" the fairy asked, looking like he was about to get up.

"Is there something she may have to keep of her grandfather's?" Eric asked. "She was forced to leave everything behind in her home, and having something from a being that never did her harm would help her. She does not have many memories of him, but those that she has are among her best." The vampire paused. "She shared those memories with me. She likely sensed that he was like her. She always felt close to him."

Niall sighed. "I will try to find something appropriate."

Eric nodded. "Then that is all."

Niall returned the nod and, after a single glance at Sookie, he stood and teleported away.

Octavia went over to the couch and sat down. She looked into the fire. "I hope dat you eventually see dat what dee bond dat has been made may have been forced, but 'tis no less real because of dat. Dee tings dat you feel are true. And dee moment Sookie made dee bond with you was as much to soothe _you_ as to soothe dee scarcity of love in her own life."

"You should have told me about the bond before," Eric said bitterly.

"I was not sure dat a bond was what I felt," the witch answered honestly. "I thought it might just be your love for each other." She sighed. "I learned as much as you did tonight about Fae bonds. Plus," she paused, "would it have changed anything?"

"I could have tried to separate my own feelings from those of the bond."

"If you do dat, you will hurt yourself, vampire," Octavia said softly. "And dee child."

Eric sighed. "I will find a balance. And I _will_ know my own mind. Sookie and I can exist together without being forced to feel what we do not feel."

"You have not listened to me," Octavia said sadly. "What you feel _is_ real!"

"Stop, witch!" Eric said harshly.

Octavia sighed but nodded. "I brought more of dee potion to conceal your scents. 'Twill last for a while—for dee both of you, but be sparing. I will not be able to make more for at least month."

He nodded. "I understand."

"I have also made another concealment spell capable of covering a home—as my spell covered dis one. You can use it if you want to stay in one place for a while. 'Tis dee log of wood by dee entryway. Just burn it in dee hearth of dee place you want to conceal. It should last a fortnight."

"What of the spell here?" Eric asked, knowing that it was due to expire soon.

"I was able to bolster it a bit. Dee fairy helped. 'Twas dee only ting he did right," she commented acerbically. "'Twill last through the night now, probably until tomorrow evening. But do not count on it past dat point."

"Very well," Eric said.

"You should complete a vampire bond with her," Octavia observed, gesturing toward Sookie.

"Yes," Eric responded. "I have already thought about the possibility of doing that, but it would add another complication. Still, it might be easier to isolate the emotions coming from the fairy bond and the ones coming from me if I had a vampire bond to confirm what I feel—and what she feels."

Octavia sighed. "Dee Fae bond isn't controlled by just Sookie's emotions, Eric. 'Tis a living thing in and of itself now."

"Then we will be able to control the power it has over us to a degree," Eric said stubbornly.

"Do you love dee child?" Octavia asked.

"I thought that I . . . ." Eric stopped midsentence. "But what I _thought_ does not matter anymore."

The witch shook her head sadly. "As I said, a vampire bond would make tings easier between you two. 'Twould satisfy the Fae bond's desire to bring you closer. And Sookie will need your blood to remain young for a longer period of time. And you will need hers too."

"Yes—other blood is beginning to taste almost like TrueBlood to me," he said dejectedly.

"If you have sex with another, dee bond will likely make you ill," Octavia said cautiously.

"Yes, I have figured that out on my own," he responded stoically.

"I am sorry dat you cannot see dee great gift of dee Fae bond," she said. "I will hope—for _both_ of your sakes—dat you do eventually."

"How can I see the gift in a thing that has taken hold of me and wishes to create a lovesick fool?" Eric seethed quietly, not wanting to disturb Sookie.

"Perhaps dee bond wishes to create dee _best_ of both of you? Perhaps it wishes to give you happiness, Eric Northman."

He scoffed.

"You are being a little hypocritical—don't you think?" the witch asked knowingly. "Did you not initially tie yourself to Sookie with _your_ blood so that you could control her?"

He shook his head. "It's not the same thing, and you know it."

"No—'tis only _similar_," she said, glaring at him. "But you are right. From what I learned today from dee bastardly fairy, the Fae bond seems more powerful than the other kinds of bonds of which I know."

Eric sighed. "Yes. It is difficult to know what I think and want versus what the bond is influencing me to think and want."

"Those tings are dee _same_ ting now, Eric," Octavia said. "And dat could be a very _good_ ting for you and Sookie."

The vampire shook his head in denial.

The witch could see that Eric as not yet ready to accept—let alone embrace—the Fae bond. She looked from him to the girl in his arms and wondered what their fate would be.

"I believe a vampire bond would help in another way too," she said after a few moments.

"How?" Eric asked.

"Dee Fae bond will compel you and Sookie to be as close. 'Twill be uncomfortable for you not to be. However, dee vampire bond will—I believe—mitigate dat a bit."

"How?" Eric asked again. "Won't it pull us even closer?" In truth, that was the only reason he hesitated in making such a bond.

"Yes," Octavia answered. "But a vampire bond would allow dee two of you to feel each other—to know each other's emotions. Knowing dat, you would both be," she paused, "_easier_ and would not be so uncomfortable if you weren't physically close. You would be close in another way, and dat might satisfy dee Fae bond even more dan physical closeness."

Eric considered Octavia's words. "Would the bonds compete within us? Could making a vampire bond make things worse?"

The witch shrugged. "Nothing like dis has ever happened dat I know of," she said honestly. "But my inclination is to believe dat dee two bonds would complement each other—just as you and Sookie complement each other. And dee vampire bond might actually help to empower you both in a way. Or—at least—it might help you to understand dee Fae bond better."

Octavia rose to her feet. "I hope you and she live through your conflict with dee Mississippi king. And I hope you both find your peace. You deserve these things. Both of you."

With those words, the witch left the house.

**A/N: Hello! Thanks for the wonderful responses to the last chapter, as well as the kind words about my new one-shot "By Any Other Name" (which was written for Seph's Writing Challenge). **

**I'm sorry that this chapter is not getting to you sooner; however, it's at the end of the semester for me, and I am up to my armpits in essays to grade. A few of you have PM'ed me to check on me, and I appreciate that. Just know that I'm working as fast as possible to get you new things. But I've got that pesky job in the real world that's currently taking up 50-60 hours of my week. ;) And I have a stack of 100 or so essays to grade—with 65 more coming in on Friday and then 40 more coming in next Tuesday. **

**I also have other bad news—the jury duty "monster" is upon me again—for two weeks from now. Hopefully, I won't get chosen for duty, but—if I do—my plans to do another installment of "Gift Horse" following the semester might be put on hold for a bit. Sigh. **

**In happier news, I'm almost done drafting a one-shot companion piece to "Snjóflóð." I plan to make these two pieces my jumping off point for my own version of Season 7. I'll try to finish up and post the companion piece soon—though I plan to wait out the clusterf+ck of the actual S7 so that I know how to proceed before composing my larger story for the season. Plus, I'm still busy with this story and **_**Touch the Flame**_**. Speaking of which, I'll try to get you one more chapter this "cycle" before I switch to that story. However, given the fact that I have several deadlines for work approaching, I hope you will understand if I cannot. **

**Best,**

**Kat **


	6. Chapter 6: Practical Arrangements

**Chapter 06: Practical Arrangements**

Eric held Sookie close against his body for another hour as he stared into the fire. He thought back to every single conversation they'd shared. Gods help him—he wanted her, despite what he now knew about the Fae bond.

Intellectually, he understood that Sookie forming the fairy bond with him was a great honor. And part of him was just a little more awestruck by her than he'd been before.

But he didn't like not knowing which of his feelings were his own and which had come from the Fae bond. However, during the hour he spent with Sookie in his arms, he began to understand what needed to be done. On the one hand, he intended to accept what had already passed between them. After all, he had no choice. On the other hand, he would progress forward with more wariness of the Fae bond.

Eric didn't want to hurt Sookie more than she'd already been hurt, but he couldn't risk losing himself to the bond—not if he was to stand a chance against Russell. But he was certain that they could find a balance—if they worked together.

It was close to 3:30 a.m. when Eric bit into his wrist to feed Sookie. This time, it did not take her long to respond to his blood, and she moaned into the wound. Her eyes opened even as the small bite on his wrist healed.

"Eric?" she asked as if waking from a dream.

"Sookie?" he gave his familiar refrain out of habit, but his tone didn't sound quite _right_ to either of their ears.

"Are they gone?"

"Yes."

"What are we going to do?" Sookie asked.

"We are going to learn how to distinguish what is real versus what is coming from the Fae bond. We are going to continue with our plan to leave this place, and eventually I will fight Russell. Your great-grandfather has left you a book that you can read in order to better understand your spark and the gifts you may develop from it. We will have to stay together from now on—it seems—but we will figure out ways to retain some independence within that constraint. The bond has made us partners, Sookie, and partners we will be until death parts us."

"Sounds like a marriage," she observed with a slight whimper.

"We are _more_ than married," Eric returned, "at least by today's standards."

"Because there's no possibility of divorce," Sookie commented somewhat sourly.

Eric nodded. "During my time, divorce wasn't a possibility either, and arranged marriages were the norm. That is how I choose to think about what we are."

"As having an arranged marriage?"

He nodded again in affirmation.

"And you don't see that as a bad thing?" she asked tentatively.

"No. Arranged marriages were often very good. They were based on mutual understanding and benefit. That will be us, Sookie. We will be fine."

Eric's words should have soothed Sookie, but the resignation mixed with the resolution in his voice made her want to cry again.

"Do you hate me?" she asked him.

"No," he said. "I have never hated you. And I will never hate you—or resent you, though I hate the bond that has been forced upon us. However, you are not to blame. I am the one who set all of this into motion by giving you my blood and activating your spark. Do you hate me?" he asked in return.

"No," she answered.

"Then that is where we will start over," he said, as he stood up and put her on her feet before bending toward her and placing a deliberate kiss on her forehead. "Why don't we eat the meal you planned for us last night? I have already packed your things, but you will probably want to shower before you apply the concealment potion to your forehead. Octavia said that the spell covering this place will last until well into tomorrow, so after you eat and are cleaned up, you should rest for a while. I will go to my rest in the car. You can even sleep in a bit, but you should leave here around noon—so that we can be at our next destination before dark."

Sookie couldn't help but to notice the distance in Eric's tone and in his demeanor, but she didn't blame him. In fact, his somewhat aloof civility calmed her—helped her to gain control of the swirl of her own emotions.

"We can deal with this," she said, though her voice shook a little.

"We _will_ deal with this," he responded. "And—to be very clear—I do _not_ blame you for it. If anything, it is your great-grandfather's fault for keeping you uninformed—or mine for setting things in motion."

Sookie looked up at Eric and gave him a small smile. "Thanks for saying that."

"I'm not just saying it," he said as he bent down to give her another kiss on the forehead. This one was tenderer. "I mean it."

Sookie's eyes focused on Eric's lips as he pulled back, but she didn't have the courage to kiss him as she wanted to. Instead, when he took a step back, she did too.

"I will go shower and gather some things together while you prepare your food," he said.

"Sure," she responded, feeling the awkwardness of their interaction acutely. She was the opposite of hungry, but she knew that she needed to eat nonetheless.

As she watched Eric walking away, she decided that she needed to embrace the numbness that she felt, rather than the pain. She guessed that Eric's blood was at least partly responsible for her feeling less upset than before. It wasn't that she felt him controlling her with the blood. No. It was just the usual burst of energy that accompanied vampire blood. And, for now, she'd take what she could get. As she entered the kitchen, she saw that several of the dishrags and towels were bloody. "Eric's tears," she said almost silently to herself as she thought about the hours of suffering that Eric must have endured the night before.

Again, she felt like crying. But, again, she stopped herself. Instead, she gathered up all the bloody rags and took them to the laundry room. She rinsed them in the utility sink and then put them into the washing machine with some bleach to soak.

That chore done, she quickly got her chicken out of the refrigerator. She'd been marinating it before she'd been taken to Faerie, but it was still okay.

She took a long, calming breath and started heating water so that she could boil her potatoes; then she peeled and cut them so that they would soften quickly.

She sighed. When she was feeling down, nothing beat the comfort of Gran's fried chicken and gravy, and Amelia had gotten all of the ingredients that Sookie would need. The telepath didn't expect to be able to make meals with as many ingredients for the foreseeable future, so she resolved to take advantage of the stocked kitchen. After dropping in the potatoes, she made herself a nice salad and then started the chicken. The potatoes got done quickly, so she mashed them with a little milk and butter. As she added salt and pepper, she breathed a sigh of relief. Cooking was such a normal task, and it felt good to be doing it.

Yes, she thought to herself, she and Eric would get through this. They were a team now, and—though their partnership had been forced—she couldn't think of anyone she'd rather be stuck with for life than the vampire upstairs.

The old Sookie might have tried to deny or ignore the obstacle before her, but the one who had survived the severing spell was resolved to move forward—even if it hurt.

* * *

Eric monitored Sookie's vital signs as he showered. Now that his blood was inside of her again, he knew that he could use it to help soothe her, but there were already too many things that were artificial between them, and the thought of that caused him immense pain.

He sighed deeply and decided to allow himself five minutes to let himself mourn the loss of the love he had thought he'd found at long last.

Eric cried.

The penetrating feeling of that emotion was still inside of him, but he shoved it into the bond where it had come from. He chastised himself for wishing that he had never learned the truth about the Fae bond. He chastised himself for wishing that the pure joy of the love he'd felt could be real. He wished that he could simply forget that feeling. Sadly, however, there were no memory charms to be found for vampires.

To avoid watching the blood from his tears going down the drain, he closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate on the feeling of the soothing hot water on his cool body. All he wanted to do was to rush downstairs and take Sookie into his arms—to tell her that none of it mattered and that he loved her—the bond be damned! All he wanted was to kiss her again and then make love to her—at long last.

But Eric refused to live inside of a lie created by the Fae bond, despite the fact that the lie would have been so wonderful to get lost inside of. He knew that no one but Sookie would ever sate him, and he resented that fact—even though he was in awe of it at the same time.

His five minutes of allotted mourning time done, he shifted his mind to try to figure out what _he_ really felt about Sookie. He thought about their interactions before the Fae bond was formed. He had flirted with her and had enjoyed seeing her flustered and riled. She had stood up to him, her fiery spirit calling to his own. It hadn't been "easy" between them; only the past fortnight or so had been "easy." But the time before the bond had been forged hadn't been bad either. Eric had been extremely attracted to Sookie, and he'd admired her courage and her innate acceptance of those different than she. He'd been so intrigued by her, in fact, that he'd tricked her into a tie and had, thereby, inadvertently set into motion all of the things that had happened since the igniting of her spark.

And she'd trusted him—intrinsically trusted him to the extent that she'd "offered" the Fae bond. She'd not known what she was doing, but that didn't mean the trust wasn't there. And, in the Dallas church, there had been moments of understanding between them.

No—it had been more than understanding. It had been admiration.

Eric had offered to give himself up for Godric and Sookie; however, the only one who actually needed his help to get out of that church had been Sookie. He had known that even then. He'd been willing to sacrifice himself for her, and that had been _before_ the blood tie and _before_ the Fae bond.

He'd respected her, and he respected few.

He'd liked her, and he liked few.

He'd trusted her to help him find his maker, and he trusted few.

And, of course, Eric knew that Sookie had _chosen_ to walk up to that roof for Godric—and for him. And she'd decided to stay with Godric _before_ she'd touched him. And that was important to Eric.

So curiosity, attraction, trust, care, and maybe even the beginning of something more between them were the true emotions Eric could accept as belonging to them. Somehow, that thought bolstered him; it was—at least—something to build on.

No. It was a lot to build on.

He and Sookie would just have to build slowly. He'd been trying to convey his "hope" and his pragmatism when he compared what they had to an arranged marriage. He could, after all, speak from experience about them. With shared values and motivations, a couple could come to love very deeply, and—though that love might not be as "romantic" as other forms—it was often more enduring than the fleeting passions of the heart.

Yes—the Fae bond was a set-back for Sookie and him, but there was much to build on nonetheless.

Somewhat mechanically, Eric finished his shower, dried off, and dressed. Then he gathered his dirty clothing and soiled towel. After that, he quickly moved Sookie's sweater from his bag to hers. He also returned her lip gloss to her purse and hid the letter he had written in his duffel bag. He thought about burning it as Niall had burned the other one, but he couldn't do that. He needed a reminder of how overriding his emotions would become if he let the Fae bond control him. He needed to be careful to keep reign of the feelings within him so that he could concentrate on what most needed to be done: planning Russell's demise.

Sookie was his partner—his helpmeet. That could not be helped now. However, she could be those things with him thinking rationally!

Eric decided to keep Sookie's IDs that he'd taken. He didn't want to have to repack her entire bag, and he could always return them later. It was also practical to keep some of them in his bag—just in case her bag and/or purse were ever left behind for any reason.

He quickly texted Brady to inform him that he would need to steal the feeds from the convenient stores again that day, but that he could forget about the hotel. Now that Sookie had had his blood, she was no longer suffering any physical ill-effects from the severing spell. And she'd almost healed physically from her ordeal in Faerie—though he could feel that she was a little tired. Eric figured that it was the Fae bond that had actually needed to heal when she got back, and he had a feeling that his blood in her would complete its healing sooner rather than later.

By the time Eric had packed up his laptop and taken his bags downstairs, Brady had texted him back to confirm that he could hijack the video feeds the next day. Eric slipped quietly through the kitchen, where Sookie was mashing potatoes, and put his duffel bag and laptop in the car. He also took a moment to ready Sookie's Bluetooth communication equipment. He'd made a point to wear his Thor's Hammer pin. He could now track Sookie with his blood, but she would need the pin if he was separated from her. If they completed a vampire bond as well, she might gain the capability to track him over short distances, but it was still good to have a back-up. And not even magic could hide a GPS signal.

Eric grabbed a plastic garbage bag for his dirty laundry and threw that into the car as well. There would be washing machines at all of the safe houses, so there was no need to worry about washing his clothing that night. It was too close to dawn for that anyway. By the time he got back inside, he saw that Sookie was placing her plate at the table she'd set the day before. She'd grabbed the goblet she'd taken out for him and was warming his blood already. He knew that it would not taste that good to him—especially not after he'd taken Sookie's blood earlier.

However, he was determined to share the meal with Sookie. He had no doubt that his reaction to finding out about the Fae bond had hurt her. Plus, he was not blind to his own hypocrisy—though his self-awareness didn't sate his anger.

He'd never doubted that vampires—as the "superior race"—had the _right_ to control humans with their blood, even though it was not a practice in which he'd participated until recently. He'd never particularly supported the idea of taking control of another, and he'd lost respect for "Renfield"-creating vampires, but he _had_ placed his blood into Lafayette and Hadley in order to gain an advantage over them. He'd also tricked Sookie into taking his blood because he was so intrigued by her—because he wanted to try to limit any control Bill had over her. Indeed, though Eric had never wanted to take control of Sookie, he couldn't deny that he wanted his blood to influence her in some things. So—yes—he was alert to his hypocrisy in hating the Fae bond so much because it had taken control away from him. And he could certainly now better empathize with how Sookie had felt when she'd feared that the vampire blood in her was controlling her.

Moreover, he truly did believe that they'd _both_ been the victims of the Fae bond—that they were in the situation together. And he needed her to understand that—despite his reaction against the Fae bond—he was not reacting against _her_.

He glanced at the table settings. His and Sookie's places had been set close to each other the day before, but Eric noticed that Sookie had moved them so that they were now further apart. He didn't comment on it.

"Hey," she said to him as she entered the room with his goblet of heated blood. "Uh—good shower?"

"Yes, thank you," he responded, humoring her in small talk as he took a sip of the blood. He sighed. He'd been right; it did taste inferior to even the night before when he'd drunk some. And he figured that the more he took Sookie's blood, the less he would want the blood of others. He would need to talk with her about forming a vampire bond—or at least feeding him on occasion. But that would have to be a conversation for another night.

"Your meal smells good," Eric said after a few minutes. "That is your grandmother's fried chicken recipe—is it not?"

Sookie nodded in affirmation. During one of their long conversations, they had talked of the human foods he remembered as well as her favorite foods.

"Her way of making gravy was the best," Sookie said, "but this isn't bad. I never can get it exactly like hers though." She chuckled. "Jason always said that Gran could make the best gravy even if she had only old shoe leather and glue to work with."

"Your brother has an odd sense of the language," Eric remarked, taking another sip of his blood.

Sookie was about to launch into a story about Jason's more outlandish metaphors when she stopped herself. Instead of speaking, she crammed a large bite into her mouth. Eric both saw and felt her change of demeanor.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded quickly as she chewed. After she was done with her bite, she tried to smile. "It's just that I know the bond made you interested in the stories that I told before, but—now that I think about it—they're all kind of stupid. Or, at least, not that important. You said earlier that we should try to figure out what the bond is causing us to do versus what we would do if it was just us, and I think you're right."

Eric put down his blood. "Sookie, I was interested in you _before_ the Fae bond was formed. Perhaps, that interest was multiplied by the bond, but it was _not_ created by it. So—when you have a story you wish to share—I will be happy to listen to it," he said evenly.

She put her fork down gently onto her plate and looked at him with shining eyes. "It's just that it's hard to know how to behave," she said quietly.

"I know," the vampire responded in a gentle tone. "I was trying to figure out my _own_ feelings when I was upstairs—the feelings that were in me before the bond formed. And that has helped."

"What did you figure out?" she asked curiously.

"I was attracted to you physically. I was intrigued by you and enjoyed the way you would stand up to me. And I _did_ care about what happened to you," he answered, ticking off the things that he had determined while he'd been in the shower. "I respected your fire; I liked you," he added with a little smile. "What about you? Can you recall how you felt about me?" he asked.

"Well," she said, trying to sound as matter-of-fact as he had sounded, "before I drank your blood, I thought you were handsome. I was pissed off by what you'd done to Lafayette, but I think I had already started to understand why you'd done it. I appreciated the fact that you'd respected me enough to make the deal not to kill the humans that I used my telepathy on. Bill had said a lot of negative things about you, but I sort of liked you despite those things." She chuckled a little, "Or—at least—I _wanted_ to like you. I thought we could be friends, maybe."

She took a breath. "I was really touched by what you did in that church in Dallas. And—when you asked me to trust me—I did."

"And I trusted you to help find Godric," Eric reminded.

"So—we had trust," Sookie observed, "and not just the innate kind Niall talked about. It was trust on a conscious level."

Eric nodded and then leered a little. "And we can be assured that our _mutual_ attraction is quite real."

She chuckled. "Of course, that's the thing _you'd_ latch onto."

"Yes," he said. "_Both_ me's."

She nodded, knowing he was talking about his real self and his "bonded" self.

"And we wanted to like each other—at the very least," she added. "That means we could have been _actual_ friends."

"I agree," he responded. "At least as much as I could have a friend."

"So friends then, who—uh—trusted each other and—uh—flirted?"

"Yes," he chuckled. "I believe that would have been the case if things had stayed as they were."

"Good. We can do that," Sookie said excitedly. "Friends, but maybe _without_ the flirting for a while." Her face turned a little red.

"I do not know if I am capable of stopping _that_," he said, winking at her.

She smiled at him, as well as at the honest conversation they'd had. At least she hoped it was honest. She didn't think that she was being influenced by the bond, but she didn't know how to be certain of that.

They finished their meals in companionable silence, and then she got up with her dishes. "I'll just wash these really quick and then go take my shower. Then I should try to get some sleep. I'll set my alarm for 11:00 so that I can be out of here by noon."

"Good. This is all good," he said a little awkwardly.

She gave him a smile, glad that she wasn't the only one still feeling a little unsure about their new status. Their conversation had helped, but she knew it would take time before she was truly comfortable in her own skin.

Eric followed Sookie into the kitchen where he quickly rinsed his glass; then he went into the living room to make sure that the fire he'd started earlier was properly put out. He stared at the dying embers for a moment. When he'd lain down in front of the fire with Sookie earlier that evening, he'd felt so full. She'd come back to him, and he'd told her that he loved her. And he couldn't wait to tell her again when she was awake. He'd been fearful of starting a vampire bond with her because he didn't want her to doubt her own feelings, but that seemed like a moot point now. Any real feelings they may have had were already being influenced by the Fae bond. Shaking off his thoughts, he quickly picked up the blankets from the floor before returning the quilt to the bedroom. He refused to allow himself to fully enjoy the inhalation of Sookie's scent as he did so.

He heard that she was in the shower, so he quickly scanned the room to make sure he'd left nothing behind. Finding the maps and addresses to the convenient stores she could safely stop at, he took them downstairs and put them in the passenger's seat of the car before retrieving the log and extra potion that Octavia had brought. He took the log and all but one vial of the potion to the car. He noticed on his way through to the garage that Sookie had turned on the dishwasher and was washing a load of laundry. He also noticed that none of the bloody towels he'd used the night before were still around. That meant that Sookie had seen them and had likely guessed how upset he'd been the night before. He decided not to let that bother him, however. Everything had changed since then.

He waited until he heard Sookie in the bedroom and then went upstairs. She'd freshened up her brown hair color two days before since the dye was temporary. She was towel-drying it. Their normal routine was for him to brush and then braid her hair after her shower, but he knew that would be no more.

She cleared her throat, a sound which only added to the awkwardness in the room.

"Uh—all done showering," she said, stating the obvious. "Thanks for packing my stuff, she added as she returned her bag of toiletries to her suitcase.

"You're welcome," he said, seeing no need to tell her about the time he had spent carefully packing her things the night before. "Amelia brought you a few new things. I packed those first."

"Thanks," she said. "Uh—should I wear this?" she asked holding up the ponytail holder.

"Yes," Eric responded. "The tie allows me to track you, but if you were concealed by magic, it might not work. The GPS would."

"Technology and magic."

"A good mix," Eric said.

"Smart," Sookie commented.

Eric held up the small vial of potion in his hand. "We will use this to conceal our scent," he said.

She nodded. "Right. Water washes it off—right?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "But the potion lasts for only a day or so anyway. We will conserve as we can, and will be well away from here before it runs out. I will keep some in reserve for when we come back to face Russell."

He opened the lid. "It takes only a couple of drops," he said as he demonstrated by putting the potion on his forehead. He put the lid back onto the vial and then handed it to her. "Keep this one in your purse in case you need to use it unexpectedly. You can put it on right before you leave the house."

She nodded and dutifully put the potion into her purse.

"It is nearing dawn," he said. "I will go to the car now."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, pulling her phone out of her purse. "Are you going to be wearing the wristband?"

"Yes. And I will have the Bluetooth in. I will likely be awake for another half hour if you have questions."

"Okay."

"I can take your suitcase down," he offered.

"Sure, just let me grab my sweater," she said, pulling out the garment that was right on top before re-zipping her bag."

"Everything else is packed and ready. The cooler is on the counter. Be sure to take any food you wish for tomorrow. The fewer stops you have to make and stores we have to go to, the better."

"Uh—did you remember to pack that case of TruBlood Amelia brought?"

He nodded. "Yes. The codes for the house in Houston are with the maps and your Bluetooth, which are in the passenger's seat of the car."

Sookie nodded. "Okay. I guess we're ready. I'll see you tomorrow night in Houston."

"The Beaumont hotel is no longer an option," Eric said. "But my blood has removed the last bit of the illness left behind by the severing spell."

"Uh—thanks. I'm sure I'll be able to get to Houston. It's really not that far."

"I will put the book Niall brought into your suitcase."

She nodded.

"Sleep well, Sookie," Eric said as he turned away.

"Uh—you too," she said.

"I shall sleep like the dead," he responded, throwing a smirk over his shoulder. That one gesture made her feel better than the rest of their rather stiff conversation had.

"Wait," Sookie said. "Don't I need to be close to my clothes and stuff so that the potion works to cover my scent on them too?"

Eric was proud of her for remembering. "The garage is actually right under this room, so if you do it here, it is close enough. Or wait until you are in the car—if you wish."

"Okay," she said as he turned again to walk away.

She lay down on the bed and wrapped herself into the quilt, inhaling Eric's scent deeply.

She already missed him.

* * *

**A/N: So sorry for the wait. I've been grading like a madman. And—when I did get to work on this—I kept finding things that needed to be changed a bit. I really wanted to try to capture Eric and Sookie's mixed feelings in the chapter. On the one hand, they have shared so much. On the other, they have to question all of their feelings to find out what's real. At his core, I always thought that Eric was a pragmatist—though he is an expert in feelings denial. And I wanted to show Sookie's evolution into a stronger person, ready to deal with her problems rather than trying to push them aside. But—of course—both of them are reeling because they still **_**feel**_** love for each other but don't know how to trust that it's real. I hope that I conveyed that they—at least—trust each other, even if they are no longer certain of their feelings for each other. **

**Anyway, enough rambling!**

**Thanks again for all the wonderful support for this story. I love reading all of your comments—even though I don't get to respond to all of them. However, trust me when I tell you that they are a balm to me as I try to meet deadlines and grade papers that make me want to pull my hair out. So—with that being said—I'm going to end work for the day, pop open a beer, prop up my feet, call over a cat, and catch up on **_**Game of Thrones**_**.**

**I'll be transitioning to **_**Touch the Flame**_** for three chapters. I'll catch you in a week or a week and a half, depending on how fast things go w/ that. **

**Until next time,**

**Kat**


	7. Chapter 7: Leaving Home

**A/N: I needed Kleenex when writing this—so just in case, here's your warning.**

* * *

**Chapter 07: Leaving Home**

**Last time: **_"Sleep well, Sookie," Eric said as he turned away. _

_ "Uh—you too," she said._

_ "I shall sleep like the dead," he responded, throwing a smirk over his shoulder. That one gesture made her feel better than the rest of their rather stiff conversation had. _

_ "Wait," Sookie said. "Don't I need to be close to my clothes and stuff so that the potion works to cover my scent on them too?"_

_ Eric was proud of her for remembering. "The garage is actually right under this room, so if you do it here, it is close enough. Or wait until you are in the car—if you wish."_

_ "Okay," she said as he turned again to walk away. _

_ She lay down on the bed and wrapped herself into the quilt, inhaling Eric's scent deeply. _

_ She already missing him._

* * *

Sookie groaned and looked at the clock. It was only 6:30 a.m., but sleep hadn't found her yet. She contemplated just leaving Slidell early, but she felt tired to the bone, and she knew that a nap would help her to drive more safely.

The only problem was that she couldn't sleep.

She tossed and turned—for what seemed like the millionth time since she lay down.

Her whole body felt like it was twitching a little—like it was looking for something. She knew exactly what that something was—who it was.

She knew that Eric was dead for the day in the garage that was apparently right below her room, but he didn't seem close enough. She groaned again and then gave up any semblance of control or dignity. She figured that she didn't need to pretend that the Fae bond wasn't at least somewhat in control of her actions while Eric was dead for the day. She sighed and grabbed the quilt off of the bed she still thought of as belonging to Eric and her. Their first kiss had taken place there. The most important conversations of her life had occurred there.

"Too bad they were fake," she sighed out loud. There was no one who would be listening to her anyway. She put the quilt under her arm, grabbed Eric's pillow, and put her phone in her pocket, thankful that it had an alarm despite the fact that it was mostly designed as a communication and location device for Eric and her. She left everything else in the room and went downstairs to the garage. Mercifully, only her suitcase and the fake box hiding the structure of Eric's resting place were in the backseat of the car. She removed them and then settled in so that her pillow was right over where Eric lay. Immediately, she felt more relaxed, knowing that it was his proximity that was making the difference.

"I wish I could touch you," she whispered toward the front seat, where she figured his head was. "I think that—when I can—I will have to touch you when you are sleeping. I mean—I won't do anything dirty," she chuckled to herself. "But I don't think I'll be able to truly sleep unless I can be next to you. And maybe if I hold your hand while _you're_ asleep, it'll be enough to get me through everything—you know? And maybe—when you're dead for the day—I can still talk to you sometimes. I know a lot of what we had wasn't real, but you helped me, Eric. It helped me to talk to you."

She sighed deeply. "I'm sorry that I did this to us. I appreciate the fact that you don't blame me. But _I_ blame me. If I hadn't been so weak and needy, maybe I wouldn't have done this to us."

She sighed and brought the quilt around her snuggly. She placed her hand flat onto the box that held him. "I just thought it was real this time—you know? Or I thought that it _could_ be. I know that what I had with Bill wasn't real, but it felt like . . . ." She paused for a moment. "I thought you and I were building something. And, when we kissed for the first time, I felt like my life might be starting—brand new. I thought that maybe someone really loved Sookie Stackhouse." She let out a sob. "But you didn't—not really." She wiped her eyes. "Anyway, Sookie Stackhouse doesn't even exist—does she? Am I Sookie Brigant now? No," she answered herself. "The fairies haven't really claimed me as family either." She sighed. "Maybe I'm nobody."

She snuggled into the pillow, enjoying Eric's scent that lingered in the pillowcase.

"It'll never be real now—will it?" she asked in a small voice. "Every day from now until the day I die, I'll fall more in love with you, but I'll always know it isn't real—that it's all because of the bond I made with you during the only day that you've ever been just as lost as me, except for maybe the day your parents died. And you'll know it too," she added sadly.

She laughed ruefully. "As it turns out, I_ was_ the reason my own parents died. I always blamed myself for them being on that bridge, and now I know that I'm even more responsible—that the fairies had wanted to kill _me_."

The guilt ate at Sookie's heart, but she tried to push it back. "No," she said aloud, "I need to be strong. I can't wallow. I need to develop my light so that I can help you beat Russell. Maybe then—just maybe—I will have made up for all this—at least a little.

She closed her eyes. "Gran always told me that the past had the ability to smother us if we refused to live in the present. And she still believed that _after_ the man she loved disappeared." Sookie sighed. "I'm glad you didn't disappear, Eric. And even though it makes me feel guilty, part of me is glad that I made a bond with you. Maybe it's wrong, but when you are asleep, I'm gonna let myself feel all the love I have for you because . . . ." She paused and sobbed into the pillow for a moment. "Because no matter how my love for you was made, you're a wonderful man—a beautiful person inside and out. And if you don't deserve all of the love I have to give, then there's no one in the world who does. I might not deserve yours back, but that doesn't mean you won't have mine—that it won't be as real as I can make it."

After wiping her tears one last time and checking her alarm, Sookie let herself sink into a sleep where the Eric in her dreams cradled her all morning long.

* * *

The jarring sound of ringing woke Sookie up. For a moment, she was disoriented, but she soon recognized where she was—in the backseat of the Prius. She grabbed her phone and shut off the annoying noise before sitting up. She was surprised when she felt well-rested.

"Thanks," she said, patting the box that held Eric. "I needed that."

It was 11:00 a.m., and she had a lot to do, so she quickly got up. She put the fake box back into the car so that Eric's enclosure would be concealed, and then she returned her suitcase to the back seat. She was about to take the quilt and pillow back inside when she thought better of it. She folded the quilt and stuck it next to her suitcase, running her fingers over the stitching lovingly.

It was one of those quilts that looked simpler to make than it had been. It was made from a patchwork of fabrics and had immediately reminded Sookie of Gran. Sookie closed her eyes and pictured Gran sitting at the old dining room table and gossiping shamelessly with her friends as they quilted. Sookie sighed; eventually Gran's arthritis had prevented her from being a part of the quilting group, but at least she'd gotten to do it for most of her years.

For Sookie's eighteenth birthday, she had been given the last quilt that Gran had helped to construct. It was a double wedding ring pattern, done in reds and browns and on a field of crisp white. It was the most beautiful quilt Sookie had ever seen. Gran had also passed along her own hope chest to Sookie that day—a piece of furniture that had once belonged to Gran's own grandmother. The gifts had touched Sookie's heart.

And broken it a little.

By then, Sookie had already given her own hopes of ever getting married. Oh—she'd ached for love—just like anyone else. She would lie in her bed for hours, just imagining what it might feel like to hold someone's hand without his thoughts invading her mind. Or she'd imagine only nice thoughts coming through—thoughts that said she was beautiful just as she was. Of course, by the time she'd turned eighteen, Sookie had already realized that her fantasies were just that—fantasies.

Still, Sookie had appreciated Gran's gifts, even as she'd lamented that she wouldn't be able to fulfill her Gran's hopes for her. Sookie closed her eyes tighter and remembered back to the morning of that birthday. Gran had been singing loudly in her head; she always did that whenever she wanted to make sure that Sookie couldn't listen to her thoughts. That morning as she'd made blueberry pancakes, Gran had been stuck on a loop of "Light My Fire" by the Doors.

Though Sookie hadn't had the heart to tell her matriarch, Gran's strategy to keep Sookie out of her head had never worked. By the time Sookie was eighteen, she'd begun developing her shields, but whenever her Gran mentally "sang" so loud, it caught Sookie's attention. And—Sookie couldn't help but to listen until she could rebuild her shields, which—at the time—was still difficult for her. Under the song that day had been Gran's biggest worries concerning Sookie—and her biggest questions. On the day of the birthday that marked Sookie as an adult by most standards, Gran had been questioning whether Sookie would even have need of a hope chest. Gran was kicking herself for letting Maxine talk her into making the traditional marriage pattern for Sookie, for she was almost certain that Sookie would never find love because of her "disability." Indeed, even as she internally sang the lyrics, Gran was resolving to wait ten years and then just encourage her granddaughter to begin using the quilt whether she was married or not.

Sookie would never forget the words in that song, which had precipitated Gran's resolution:

_The time to hesitate is through_

_No time to wallow in the mire_

_Try now we can only lose_

_And our love become a funeral pyre_

_Come on baby, light my fire_

A funeral pyre indeed.

Sookie felt a warm tear slip down her cheek and hoped it would be her last for a while. She'd already cried enough tears over the idea of being an old maid. Hell—she'd started doing that when she was thirteen and had tried to hold a boy's hand for the first time! Yes, by eighteen, she'd been able to accept the quilt and Gran's "hope" without shedding any tears—at least not in front of Gran.

Sookie sighed and shook her head a little. Ironically, when it came to love, Sookie had actually gotten much farther than she'd ever thought she would! After all, she'd not died a virgin, and—before meeting Bill—she had been pretty sure that would be the case. And lots of girls lost their virginity to guys with ulterior motives. And a lot of people's relationships were based on lies and false affection. The only difference was that they generally didn't know it.

Sookie did.

Luckily, she had found out about Bill's duplicity _before_ she was tied to him in marriage. And—no matter how painful things were between her and Eric now—there was openness between them. All of their cards—even the ones that had been dealt to them without their knowledge—were now on the table.

Sookie took a deep breath as she glanced once more at the quilt from the house. The quilt Gran had given to her had been destroyed by the Maenad, as has Gran's wedding dress, which had also been residing in Sookie's hope chest before Maryann had taken it. As she'd gone through the tatters of the hope chest after Sam killed Maryann, Sookie had believed that what she'd had with Bill was real, and she'd mourned the loss of those items that she had hoped to use when she made a home with him. However, it turned out that it didn't matter that those items had been lost, after all.

However, Sookie was determined that she would keep the quilt from this house—this home that she and Eric had shared when the possibility of love had seemed so _real_ to her. Maybe it was her just torturing herself with what could never be true, but if she was going to live as long as Niall thought—and maybe even be turned one day so that Eric could live on—she needed to have something to remind her of the days before she knew she'd trapped Eric because of her desperate need to have a connection with someone.

She knew that despite the pain and illness she had suffered there, her time in the Slidell home had been the best time of her life. She left the pillow with Eric's scent as well and went into the house. She started coffee and quickly ate a bowl of cereal before packing the left-over food she would be taking with her. There were a couple of TrueBloods in the refrigerator as well, so she grabbed those too. She put the cooler and the grocery bag she'd filled into the car before quickly tidying up the kitchen and throwing her load of linens into the dryer. She knew that Octavia and Amelia would be coming by to eliminate all traces of her and Eric from the house, but she didn't want to leave it a mess.

Noticing that it was 11:30 a.m., Sookie went upstairs and brushed her teeth with the travel toothbrush she'd decided to keep in her purse. She did a last, quick scan of the room, making sure to look in the dresser and closet too. The only things she had left in the room were her purse and her sweater, which she put on over the T-shirt she was wearing. The weather was too hot for the garment, but she was starting to feel cold from the thought of leaving the house behind.

She did a quick walk around the living room and dining room, marveling at the fact that there was no evidence of her and Eric's stay there. There were no pictures. There were just shared memories. There were no artifacts. There was just the artifice created by the Fae bond.

She quickly used the bathroom one more time, refilled her travel coffee mug, unplugged the coffee maker, and grabbed her purse and the small lunch she'd made for herself before leaving the house. She settled into the car, and as the garage door opened, she placed her hand over where Eric was sleeping as she said a little prayer that she would do her job and keep him safe that day. She applied the potion that would conceal her smell once she left the safety of the home and then carefully backed out of the garage, making sure that she closed the garage door behind her.

She'd learned from Eric that most of the places they would be using as safe houses had codes to get into them. And that made sense. After all, carrying around dozens of garage door openers would be cumbersome to say the least. Sookie knew that the basic plan was for Eric and her to make their way West. Getting through Texas would take several days, as Eric planned for them to travel only about 6 to 8 hours each day, and their path wasn't linear. They would also take a few days in New Mexico, again not traveling linearly. According to Eric, both states were run by monarchs who were not particular fans of Russell Edgington, so the Mississippi and Louisiana king would have no help from them.

On the other hand, they would travel through Arizona in a single day. The king there was named Sampson, and he was the child of Felipe de Castro, who was the king of Nevada. Felipe and Russell were quite friendly, according to Eric.

Their ultimate destination was California, which Eric had told her was the best state in the United States to hide. Not only was it large, but also the king and queen of the state were quite isolationist and preferred to think of their large territory as separate from the rest of the territories in North America. King Edwin had ruled over Washington and Oregon before marrying Queen Agnes of California. The two controlled the Western coast with a mix of efficiency and tolerance. In fact, Eric had even considered settling there when he came to the United States, but had opted for Louisiana because Godric was closer and because Sophie-Anne had a vacant sheriff's position at the time.

Although Eric had explained that he would not ask Agnes and Edwin for direct help, they would not help Russell or his agents either. They also had a distaste for and distrust of Felipe, and they used Weres to very carefully monitor their borders with Nevada and Arizona.

Once in California, Eric said that he had a secluded home in the mountains where they could stay for a while as they planned their move against Russell. Sookie intuited that Eric really didn't know where to start with that planning, but she trusted that he would figure out something. And—hopefully—she could get her microwave fingers to work better so that she could help more.

She turned on NPR and was quickly on Interstate 12 heading west toward Baton Rouge. Not needing to use the restroom, she decided not to stop at her first "approved" rest stop, which was just before Baton Rouge. She transitioned to Interstate 10, which would take her all the way to Houston.

About three hours into the trip, the coffee in her bladder was demanding her attention, so she stopped at the second "approved" stop, this one in a little town named Crowly, which was between Lafayette and Lake Charles.

Just as Eric had taught her, she drove by the little store once in order to determine where the best place to park would be. Eric had told her that gas stations and convenient stores often had cameras placed in various places around the building, but there were usually ways to fly under the radar. Despite her screaming bladder, she did another turn around the block until she noticed a woman going into the bathroom. Immediately, Sookie parked at the side of the building where the bathrooms were.

Listening into the thoughts of the customers at the small gas station, she waited a couple of minutes and then put on her sunglasses and a baseball cap before exiting the Prius. As she knew she would be, she was just in time to meet the woman coming out of the restroom with a key attached to a brick, which was a standard feature at roadside gas stations like this one. Sookie smiled and the woman handed her the key with a polite smile of her own.

Sookie quickly did her business and then waited until another woman was waiting outside the door to receive the key from her. She passed it along and then got back into her car. She made a note of all the cars around her and then got back onto the highway. She spent the next thirty miles with her eyes in the rearview mirror, altering her speed every five miles or so. As soon as she was certain she wasn't being followed, she set the cruise control and found a station playing classic rock-n-roll.

Eric had taught her a lot about how to avoid cameras. One way was to pick the "right" kinds of places to stop at. Instead of the larger chain convenient stores, he'd said to pick smaller gas stations. These often had some food options as well, but—if possible—Eric told her to avoid going into the stores themselves. The best option for her would be the kind of place that had restroom facilities with entrances on the outside of the building, like the one she'd just been in. A place like that likely had close-circuit cameras around the building, but Sookie could prevent the cameras from getting a good image of her by keeping her head slightly lowered and pointed away from the corners of the building—as if she were checking for a hangnail or needing to tie her shoes. If necessary, Sookie would have to go into the store itself to retrieve the key to the restroom, and—if that were the case—she couldn't help but to have her face captured by a camera. However, if she could use her gift to wait until she heard the thoughts of another woman using the facilities, then she could avoid going into the store altogether.

According to Eric, most little gas stations had close circuit systems and kept footage for only 36 hours or so before recording over it. The cameras, therefore, were only for internal use and were primarily utilized to catch shoplifters or dishonest workers. Thus, if Sookie had to go inside of one, it was okay—not ideal, but okay.

The problem with larger chains, according to Eric, was that their security footage was often Internet-based and patched into a corporate system. The footage would, therefore, be stored longer. Also, hackers could use the footage to run through face-recognition searches. With a picture of her, a hacker could—within only a few hours—determine if she'd been in any of the chain's locations. With this in mind, Eric had told her of many chain stores to avoid.

Feeling good about her first pit-stop, Sookie sang along mindlessly to the music on the radio, only pausing her singing long enough to eat the sandwich and chips she'd packed for her meal. Not wanting to have to stop again before she reached her destination for the day, she sipped her Dr. Pepper slowly. However, thinking about not wanting to stop made her bladder insist upon doing just that, so she did stop at the "approved" place that was a little past Beaumont. This time, instead of a gas station, it was a little café, which Sookie immediately loved for its homey feel.

Sookie saw some fresh pies in the case and, feeling nostalgic, she asked if she could have a whole pecan pie and a coffee to go; then she used the small bathroom while the kind-faced middle-aged woman running the café packed the pie up for her. Sookie used her telepathy to double check the thoughts of the customers before leaving the little place.

Of all the kinds of places she could stop, Eric suggested small, private businesses as being the best. A little café that was several miles from the Interstate was the perfect choice, according to Eric. If there was a camera system, it would likely be older and most certainly close-circuit. But—more likely—there would not be one in a place that small. To avoid suspicion, Eric had suggested that she always buy a little something—either food or some kind of a trinket when in places like that.

Once back on the road and confident she'd not been followed, Sookie understood what Eric had been doing when he planned her route for the day. He'd researched a variety of types of places that would be relatively safe for her to go to. He knew that she might have to one day select her own spots, and he'd wanted to give her the training she would need to stay safe. That thought warmed her up more than her coffee did as she traveled the final leg to Eric's house just outside of Houston.

Given that she'd left Slidell just before noon, it was no surprise that she pulled up to her destination just after 6:00 p.m. The sun would be down in a little while, and Sookie was glad that Eric would rise soon.

She parked the car in front of the garage and got out. She quickly grabbed her keys. According to Eric, she would use the same process to enter all the safe homes from then on. There was a master key—the one now on her key ring—that would unlock all the doors. In addition, there was a new code to enter for each house. She put the key into the lock and noticed that a panel opened to the left of the doorknob. From memory, she entered the code and then went quickly inside before entering another code to disarm the security system. Without taking a look around, she went into the garage and found the button to open the garage door before quickly going back to the car and driving in. Once the garage door was closed, she reset the house alarm and sighed with relief, knowing that she and Eric were once more under cover and that her "shift" would soon be over and that Eric would take over their security for the night.

Despite her relief, she stretched her telepathy out as far as she could. The houses in the modest neighborhood were pretty close together, so she "heard" several humans. None of them were thinking anything of concern. Given the fact that there was no concealment spell around this house, Eric had asked her to make a scan of the area every half hour or so, and they'd intended to work together on controlling and strengthening her telepathy.

Sookie hoped that was still the plan, but she decided to wait for Eric's cue on that subject.

According to Eric, the sun would set around 7:20 that night, give or take a few minutes. Thus, Sookie decided to use the hour before then to get settled. She scoped out the house, finding that it had a basement, but—unlike the Slidell home—it was only one story otherwise. There were two bedrooms on the main floor, but one was completely empty. Although she knew that they'd only be staying the night and that they'd be moving on the next day, she still brought in her suitcase and the quilt. She placed them in the furnished room. Next, she took the cooler out of the car and put the perishables into the otherwise empty refrigerator and the cooling blocks that took the place of ice into the freezer. That done, she milled around the house for a little while. There was no television, so—after another mental scan of the area—she got herself a piece of pie and took out her book from Niall.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry that this took a longer time to get to you than I'd intended, but many of you know that I was struggling with migraines for a while. Luckily, I seem to be doing better, but I got behind on things for a while. And I'm still limiting my time at the computer.**

**So—we are on the road now. This was a hard chapter to write because Sookie's emotions are so poignant and raw to me here. I usually empathize more with Eric, but—here—Sookie's memories and feelings just got to me (thus the Kleenex warning at the beginning). I found that I was crying for her. In this chapter, she's truly struggling with the whole concept of "hope," even as she accepts the fact that she loves Eric—no matter where that love came from. **

**Another hard part was writing this without letting it seem as if Sookie is having a pity party. I didn't want it to seem like she's doing that at all! And we see that—after she allows herself a few minutes to think about the quilt Gran made her (because she cannot yet think about all of the implications of her relationship with Eric)—she goes on with the practical steps needed to get her and Eric from Slidell to Houston safely. I also wanted to show—through the two quilts—the character progression of Sookie. She—like the quilt Maryann destroyed—was in tatters in a lot of ways after Bill. That quilt had represented traditional love and marriage, which is something Sookie knows and accepts she will never have. Before vampires entered her life, she'd not had any hope. Then Bill gave her false hope and left her in tatters. With Eric, her hope had been relit and then squelched—but notice that she doesn't let herself get ripped apart. By keeping the quilt from the Slidell house, Sookie is latching on to a symbol of hope. She might not currently feel hope mixing with her love, but she's not willing to give it up completely either. I was trying to show the "good" kind of stubbornness that I think Sookie has. **

**So—yeah—trying to say all that in this chapter, without making it too cheesy, was my goal. I hope I accomplished it.**

**I'll stop rambling now.**

**Until next time, **

**Kat**

**Remember to visit my WordPress to see the art for this story made by Seph. (californiakat1564. wordpress. com). **


	8. Chapter 8: Reasonable Doubts

**Chapter 08: Reasonable Doubts **

"_**If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things."—Rene Descartes**_

Eric woke up about half an hour before sunrise. The car was parked, but he still felt some residual heat from the engine, so he estimated that they'd been parked for less than an hour. Sookie wasn't far from him, and his first impulse was to go to her.

However, Eric quelled his instinct and refrained. The garages at his safe houses were not always light tight, nor were the main rooms.

He closed his eyes and assessed his surroundings as he always did upon waking. About twenty human scents were distinguishable in the area, but nothing seemed suspicious, and no one had come too close to the safe house for a while. He smelled the slight odor of Were, but it was faint—likely more than a week old—and the scent was not from a full-blooded Were. Still, he would track it later to make sure there was no threat.

His assessment of the smells around him done, Eric settled his nose onto the smell that most captivated him: Sookie. He'd had a difficult time falling into his day-rest that morning and had even suffered from the bleeds because he'd been unable to sleep. That had never happened to him before. He'd had to force himself to stay awake throughout the day before, but he'd never had trouble dying for the day when he wanted to.

And, as far as he knew, no vampire had ever had insomnia.

Until that morning.

Only Sookie's coming to the car had eased the tension that had been building up in his body.

He'd thought about speaking to her on the Bluetooth once she was there, but when she'd started speaking—talking to him as if he were awake in the casual and confessional way they'd become accustomed to—he'd listened in silence and had taken solace in her voice. His only action had been to raise the palm of his hand to the top of his container, imagining her hand in his.

Like her, he had been happy to feel their connection—with her not knowing that he was feeling it.

Sookie had confessed many things to the "sleeping" him. She'd confessed her desire to touch him and had spoken of her intentions to touch him when he slept. He had almost laughed aloud when she'd qualified that she wouldn't touch him in a "dirty" way. He'd imagined her blush as she'd said that.

She'd next spoken of how she had hoped that the love she'd felt for him was real, but then she'd acknowledged that it wasn't—and never would be. Eric wondered if she was correct in her supposition that they would fall more and more in love with each other every day—even as they continued to recognize that those feelings were constructed by the Fae bond. Certainly, she was trapped just as much as he was—trapped inside of a "fairy tale," as it were.

In the end, he'd felt her resolution in her blood, and he'd heard it in her voice too. She'd resolved to follow her Gran's teachings and live in the present. And she'd said that she was grateful he'd not disappeared—presumably once he'd learned about the Fae bond. She'd confessed that she would let herself _feel_ her love for him when he was dead for the day. Finally, she'd said that he deserved her love because she found him beautiful—both inside and outside—and she'd endeavored to make her love for him as real as possible.

Eric had felt a mixture of sadness and contentment coming from Sookie as she'd spoken. He knew that the contentment was because of their proximity to each other, for he had felt it acutely as well. But then her feelings had turned to guilt as she'd spoke of being responsible for her own parents being killed. Resolution had overcome her guilt, however, as she had settled into her sleep. And it was only when he'd heard her even breaths that he had been able to sleep as well.

Eric couldn't help but to compare the many ways that Sookie and he were alike. Both of them blamed themselves for their parents' deaths—even though they were both rational enough to know that they couldn't have done anything to stop those deaths. However, he and Sookie were, first and foremost, creatures of the heart—instead of the head—even if he'd always tried to deny that fact as a vampire. Some of her impetuous actions had reminded him of his own human days—when he'd been prone to run into battle without thinking things through fully. Yes—in his younger days—he'd survived on luck, audacity, and sheer willpower. The same could be said for Sookie Stackhouse.

They were alike in another way too. Neither of them had any reason at all to trust in love. However, as Eric had listened to Sookie speaking in the car, he'd come to understand something very important: he _could_ trust in a bond. And hadn't all of his own "loves"—as both human and vampire—been fueled by bonds? He'd loved his parents because of familial bonds. He'd not chosen them, but he'd loved them nonetheless. Then he'd loved Godric for a thousand years; he'd certainly not felt this emotion for him when he'd appeared at his funeral pyre in the dark. But the bond between maker and child had supplied devotion and love, which Eric had felt as soon as he'd awoken to his vampire life. And those emotions had only grown from there. Pam certainly hadn't loved Eric when he'd sucked the lifeblood out of her, but she'd awoken loving him, and he'd loved her back because of their bond.

In all his days, he'd never questioned whether his love for Godric or Pam was real because it had been formed through _vampire_ magic. He recognized that he questioned the love from the Fae bond because it had been wrought from _Fae_ magic. He closed his eyes tighter, recognizing his own hypocrisy. However, even as he did, he still felt the need to resist the effects of the Fae bond—at least until he fully understood it.

He couldn't help but to wonder if that resistance would be ultimately futile.

Eric tried to go into downtime to await the last ten minutes before sundown, but he felt pensive and knew it was because he was farther away from Sookie than he was comfortable with. He shook his head and ran through his list of things to do. He needed to watch the video feed from Brady. After that, he would need to discuss with Sookie how she had done in avoiding the cameras at the places where she'd stopped. Next, they would need to make a list of any items they needed. Eric had learned long ago that the best way to get what he needed and to avoid detection was to glamour a human to do the getting for him. He intended to do just that in order to secure more gasoline and any other needed items.

After that, he was determined to go on with one of the things Sookie and he had planned: working on her telepathy. The Slidell house had been quite far from their nearest neighbors, as well as at the end of a cul-de-sac, so she'd been able to relax as she'd healed, but she would need to build up her gift. He also needed to tell her about the planned visit from Claudine in one week's time, as well as to go over the next day's route with her. Finally, he wanted to speak to Sookie about forming a vampire bond. Octavia's words from the night before gave him hope that a vampire bond might help to shift the power away from the Fae bond a bit.

Eric had just finished making his plans for the night when he felt the sun go fully down. He exited the car without making a sound and made his way quickly into the house until he was in the same room as Sookie—his bonded. Had he needed to breath, he would have exhaled in relief at being close to her again.

She had sat up straight as if she'd heard him—though he knew that was impossible, despite the fact that she'd recently had his blood.

"Eric," she said in barely a whisper, the relief clear in her tone.

"Good evening," he returned. "Were there any problems as you traveled today?"

She turned around from her place on the couch and shook her head. "No, the trip was fine."

He nodded.

"You hungry?" she asked. "I mean—I was gonna fix my dinner, and I could warm you a TrueBlood?"

"That would be nice," he responded. "I will just do a quick scout of the area while you prepare things."

She nodded and got up, moving toward the kitchen. She grabbed a Tupperware container of leftovers she'd brought from Slidell and quickly warmed up her meal. Next she warmed a TrueBlood. She set her own plate at the breakfast bar and then took Eric's blood out of the microwave before putting the lid back on it and shaking it so that the heat would be evenly distributed. However, she wasn't sure where to set down the bottle, for she didn't know if he'd want to eat with her.

He stepping into the kitchen from the garage and helped her with her dilemma.

"I will eat with you if you find that acceptable," he said a little awkwardly.

"Sure," she responded quickly.

He could feel her happiness in their tie, but she immediately worked to stifle it.

He lifted his laptop case a little. "Do you mind if I do a bit of work as we have our meal?"

She shook her head, grateful that he'd be close to her, but glad that he wouldn't feel obligated to speak with her now. Imagining him interacting with her only out of pity was too much for her to bear.

Eric flipped open his laptop and plugged in a devise that would give him untraceable Internet access. He was once more thankful for Brady's ingenuity. Quickly, he opened one of his encrypted email accounts and was glad to see an email from Rasul, who'd been his spy in the queen's court for decades.

Eric had contacted Rasul the night after the severing spell as Sookie had slept in his arms. Rasul had promised to help by continuing to be a source of information for Eric, but the Viking had cautioned his ally. Russell would be immediately suspicious if Rasul went looking for information. The queen had been easy to spy upon, but Russell was different.

However, Eric needed to begin looking for patterns in Russell's movements and behavior, and he hoped that Rasul could help with that. The Viking quickly read through the email. It seemed as if he and Sookie had left Slidell at a good time. Victor Madden, as well as the witch named Hallow, had been brought into the equation by Russell, and they were currently concentrating their efforts in the New Orleans area.

"What is it?" Sookie asked.

"What do you mean?" he responded.

"Uh," she started, "it's just that your shoulders got a little tense. Did you get bad news?"

"Rasul," he said, motioning toward the screen. He'd told Sookie all about his vampire associate during one of their long nights together. "He has reported that Victor Madden is helping Russell in the search for us."

"Who's that?"

"Felipe de Castro's lieutenant," Eric responded. "Victor is an asshole, but he's also a very good tracker. However, I am not as concerned with him as I am the witch."

"Witch?"

"Yes," Eric nodded, taking out his disposable cell phone. "Hallow. She is a Were-witch and is quite powerful. She tried to poach in Area 1 a few years back, but she lost interest after Katrina hurt her chances for profit there. I believe she turned her attention to Florida after that. But she has had a long association with Russell. He pays her well to use her gifts on occasion and then pays her even better to stay out of Mississippi for the rest of the time. He is also one of the few vampires she likely fears. She certainly didn't fear Sophie-Anne."

"Shit," Sookie said.

Eric smiled and leaned in to kiss Sookie's forehead before he realized what he was doing. He pulled back from the affectionate gesture immediately.

"Sorry," she said awkwardly.

"For?" he asked.

"The bond. Making you do things like that."

"As I said last night, Sookie, you are _not_ to blame for that," he said, his eyes blazing with sincerity. Sookie just didn't know if his look was coming from his heart or the bond.

He could feel her uncertainty—as well as his own—but didn't comment on it. "I should call Octavia," he said instead. "According to Rasul, the witch is using a remnant of magic found near Pam's residence to try to track down the source of the magic I've been using."

"Oh God!" Sookie said in horror. "Octavia's not in trouble is she?"

Eric shrugged. "I don't think so, but it would be best to warn her of the possibility since Victor and Hallow are in the New Orleans area. I will put the call on speaker so that you can hear."

Sookie looked at him in surprise.

"Sookie, you and I are partners in this," he paused, "and in _all_ things."

He felt equal parts happiness and hesitation from her as he connected the call.

"Octavia," he said when the witch answered.

"I did not expect to hear from you dis soon," she said by way of a greeting.

"I am calling to give you information. Russell has called in Hallow, and a trace of magic was found at Pam's home."

Octavia cackled. "Excellent!"

"What?" Sookie couldn't help but ask. "How is that a _good_ thing?"

As Octavia spoke, her amusement was clear in her tone. "I placed a spell around dee pouch dat contained dee concealment potion I knew was meant for your child."

"Why?" Eric asked.

"So dat she would have to drop it—of course," Octavia said as if the answer were obvious.

Realization could be seen on both Sookie's and Eric's faces at the same time.

"A red herring," Eric stated.

"Indeed," Octavia cackled. "Dat pouch will lead Hallow to a witch named Dilmeanna Rose."

"Never heard of her," Eric said.

"'Tis because she's been dead since before you came to Louisiana," Octavia laughed. "Dilmeanna was quite powerful and was one of my mentor's mentors—though no one will be able to trace her to me. Her being in dee equation will keep Hallow scratching her head—and her ass—for quite a while," the witch added with another gleeful chortle.

"But—what if the connection _is_ found?" Sookie asked, biting her lip worriedly.

Octavia scoffed a little. "Don't worry 'bout me, child. Even if Hallow could match my magical ability—which she cannot—she certainly doesn't have dee intellectual capability required to track dee pouch to me. No—she will run around in circles for a while chasing her own tail." Her tone turned a little darker. "And—if she does happen to get lucky when she stops spinning—I will finally have dee excuse I need to send her boney ass into oblivion."

Eric smirked. "It sounds like you have no love lost for Hallow."

"She is a blight on witches," Octavia scorned, but then her tone softened. "And don't worry about dee home in Slidell being compromised either. I have already removed all traces of you, Sookie, Amelia, Niall, myself, and my magic from dee dwelling."

"Good," Eric said.

"Be careful, Octavia," Sookie said.

"Ah—child," the witch responded, "do not worry 'bout me. Hallow is strong, but she has no idea what I could do to her. I would have taken her out years ago—when she was in New Orleans—if I held any affection for Sophie-Anne."

"Be cautious of Russell," Eric said.

"Dat I _will_ do," Octavia said as she disconnected the call.

Sookie took a deep breath. "Did Rasul say anything else?"

"The king believes I killed you—rather than let you get close to me—and Bill has joined with Russell and is very anxious for my demise as well."

"Is that what you would have done if it weren't for the Fae bond?" Sookie asked, her voice shaking. "Kill me?"

* * *

**A/N: Hello all! A lot of you wanted for Eric to be awake as Sookie was speaking in the last chapter, and he was! So good guessing! I think Eric is making progress in this chapter. He's seeing the similarities between his love for Godric and Pam—both brought about by bonds—and his feelings for Sookie. However, our stubborn vampire still wants to try to "control" his reactions to the bond—because it's **_**Fae**_** in origin. At least our stubborn vamp is willing to admit his feelings are hypocritical. LOL. And he's trying to do what he can for Sookie too; I think that emphasizing they are partners in all that's happening to them is a big step for him. This is not an Eric who is going to tell her only half the truth anymore. This is an Eric who realizes that Sookie and he are one because of the fundamental nature of bonds (which he is very familiar with). In a lot of ways, I wanted to take the element of a bond being forced on them and then change the origin of that bond. But I liked how CH made the bond forming so complicated and problematic in the books; it was something that Eric and Sookie could conquer together. However, CH—sadly—didn't follow that path. Sigh.**

**Anyway, enough rambling. There will be more of Eric and Sookie's conversation in the next chapter.**

**Until then,**

**Kat **


	9. Chapter 9: Over TrueBlood and Pecan Pie

**Chapter 09: Over TrueBlood and Pecan Pie**

_ "The king believes I killed you—rather than let you get close to me—and Bill has joined with Russell and is very anxious for my demise as well."_

_ "Is that what you would have done if it weren't for the Fae bond?" Sookie asked, her voice shaking. "Kill me?"_

"No," Eric answered honestly and quickly. "No," he reiterated. "Perhaps I should have, but. . . ." He stopped midsentence.

"But?" Sookie asked.

"Russell is correct that it is dangerous for a vampire to let anyone close to him or her—to let anyone know of his or her vulnerabilities."

"And you've let me in," she whispered.

"Yes," he said, his look unreadable. "No human has ever known as much about me as you do. And no vampire either—not even Godric."

Sookie blinked as she tried to soak in that information. "Not even Godric?"

Eric's eyes lightened a little. "Godric was many things to me, but first and foremost, he was my maker. As such, he was always in ultimate control of me, so our relationship could have never been balanced. Plus . . . ." He stopped for a moment.

"Plus?"

"Godric held much back from me," Eric said. "It is the vampire way."

"You and I held nothing back from each other," Sookie stated as she thought about their time together in Slidell.

"No," he agreed, "we didn't hold anything back."

"Do you regret it?" she asked, worrying her bottom lip a little.

"I should," he said. "The harsh truth is that I should have killed you when I first felt myself wanting to share myself with you."

She sighed. "Because of the Fae bond."

He shook his head. "Not just because of the bond, Sookie."

She looked at him with a little confusion.

"The night Bill brought you into Fangtasia after the Maenad had almost killed you—_that_ was when I knew that I could never bring harm to you."

"But you barely knew me then," Sookie whispered.

He shrugged. "Once Dr. Ludwig said that you would be well, I realized just how much I would have missed you in this world if you'd not recovered," he answered candidly. "And that was _before_ the blood tie or the Fae bond."

She smiled a little. "Thank you for telling me that. And thanks for . . . ." She paused for a moment, chewing on her lower lip again.

"For what?"

She chuckled. "For not killin' me even though I discombobulated you."

He chuckled heartily. "_That_ you _did_ do. And thanks to you too."

"For what?"

"Did I not discombobulate you as well?" he asked with a lifted eyebrow and mischief in his eyes.

She snorted out a giggle. "Yep."

"Well—then thanks for not staking me," he intoned.

She bit back her smile. "You're welcome." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "_That_ was from me to you. The bond had nothing to do with it."

He leered playfully at her. "Can I kiss you back, Sookie?"

"If it's from _you_," she said as she jutted out her chin a little.

"It is."

"Then yes," she whispered.

He leaned in and gave her a lingering kiss on her cheek to match the one she'd given him.

"Thank you," she said with a little sigh.

He nodded as he leaned back.

"So—uh—anything else from Rasul?" she asked, trying to change the subject before she launched herself into a full-blown kiss with him. She didn't think either of them were ready for that.

"Just that he's made contact with Chow, whom Russell has planning a Fangtasia-like bar in Jackson," Eric reported.

Sookie smirked. "As if there could ever be a Fangtasia without you on a throne," she intoned.

Eric chuckled. "Indeed. Chow on a throne won't have the same effect."

She giggled, but then sobered a bit. "And you know you can trust them? Chow and Rasul?"

Eric nodded. "I know I can trust Rasul, and Chow seems content to give information to Rasul without asking any questions. And it doesn't hurt that Chow owes me his life—several times over. He won't risk his own skin, but—if he can safely do it—he will help."

Sookie nodded. She still didn't understand a lot about vampire politics, but she was coming to understand that Eric inspired a lot of loyalty from those around him.

Eric sighed. "Unfortunately, Rasul has spent only one night in Mississippi since Sophie-Anne and Russell were married. Sophie-Anne was always sheriff of Area 1 in name, but Rasul ran everything. Russell has kept him in that role. According to Rasul, the king is now traveling to New Orleans with Bill in order to meet up with Victor and Hallow, so—hopefully—Rasul will be able to get a better sense of the security forces traveling with Russell.

Sookie shivered. "It's frightening to know that Victor and Hallow were that close to us," she whispered. "And Bill and Russell were only a night behind."

"It just confirms the efficacy of the severing spell and the power of Octavia's other spells," Eric comforted.

Sookie scoffed a little. "Well—I don't think Bill's bein' with Russell will help him out much anymore."

"Why's that?" Eric asked with some amusement.

"Cause crazy doesn't help crazy to be less crazy," Sookie drawled.

Eric chuckled at Sookie's choice of words as she went to rinse her now empty dish.

"Where did you stop today?" Eric asked as she turned off the water.

"Uh—the gas station in Crowley and the little café outside of Beaumont." Remembering that, Sookie got a piece of pecan pie before warming up another TrueBlood for Eric. Once she was back in her seat, she took a bite of her dessert and moaned in appreciation.

"Good?" Eric asked with a smirk as he took a drink of his blood—which tasted like cardboard to him. At least the foul tasting liquid helped him to ignore the twitching of his cock at the sound she'd made.

She blushed a little. "Yeah. I—uh—hadn't had pecan pie since Gran died, but I got some at the café. It isn't as good as hers, but it's still good."

Eric nodded and quickly scrolled through the encrypted site that Brady had set up. Estimating the time Sookie would have been in Crowley, he searched through the video feed Brady had gotten from the gas station. It didn't take him long to find the image of Sookie parking the Prius. He paused the footage and turned the laptop toward her before getting up to stand behind her so that they could both see the screen.

"What's this?" she asked.

"You at the gas station," he answered. "I had Brady send me the video feed from it. He was tapped into the systems of all the places where you might have stopped today."

"A test?"

"Yes," Eric confirmed. "But a safe one." Eric reached around Sookie's shoulder and restarted the feed. She sighed as his hand brushed against hers, but she quickly pulled both her hands into her lap.

"Try to park as much in the middle of the building as you can," Eric said, pointing to the screen. "The outside cameras tend to be along the corners of the building. If you had parked two places down, the car wouldn't have been captured in the image."

"Okay," she said as she looked at the screen, which showed eight different camera views. Five of them were feeds of the interior of the store, which she'd not entered. She kept her eyes on the cameras that showed the exterior of the store. She saw herself get out of the car and then move out of the frame of the camera. All that anyone would have been able to see was a brunette wearing an innocuous dark baseball cap.

"Good," Eric said. "You kept your head down and to the side. "Excellent. Be sure not to wear that sweater when the temperature is warm though. It makes you stand out. If you are cold, wear the gray hoodie. That style is more common."

Sookie nodded. "Okay." She didn't tell Eric that she had worn the sweater only in order to breathe in his scent, which clung to the garment like a second skin.

They continued watching as Sookie came back to the car and quickly got in. She pulled out of the parking space just as Eric had instructed so that the license plate was not picked up.

"Regardless, I will change to a Texas license plate later tonight," he commented.

Sookie nodded as he changed the feed to show the single camera from inside the little café. It showed a side view of the counter. Again, estimating her time of arrival, he quickly found Sookie on the feed.

Eric smiled, pleased by what he saw when she entered the café.

"You saw the camera?" he asked.

"No," she responded. "But I guessed where one would be if they had one."

"You have good instincts," he commented as he studied the way that Sookie had kept the camera from getting a good image of her, even as she interacted with the cashier in a friendly manner.

"Thanks," Sookie smiled proudly as she watched her image. "You're right about the sweater. Everyone else is in a T-shirt."

"It is a little thing, Sookie. Do not concern yourself with it."

He sat back down next to her and closed his laptop. "Tomorrow, we will be beyond Brady's scouting, so you will have to find your own places to stop."

"Okay," she said a little nervously.

Stifling his desire to kiss her forehead to comfort her, Eric gave Sookie a little smile. "Do not worry. You did well, and you will do even better tomorrow."

"Thanks."

"Now," he said as he packed up the laptop, "tell me of the humans you can hear. Start with the house next door to our right." He pointed in the direction he wanted her to listen in first. "And try to target just in that direction—if you can."

Sookie nodded and then stretched out her telepathy. She closed her eyes. "There are two people inside. They are both thinking about a movie they're watching. The wife is thinking about how handsome one of the actors is, and the husband is thankful that his wife chose a war movie to watch instead of a chick flick."

Eric chuckled. "Good. How about the house beyond that?"

She concentrated and tried to expand her range. "Uh—I can't be sure, but I don't think there is anyone there."

"You're right," Eric said, causing Sookie's eyes to pop open.

"How can you know?"

"I have a very acute sense of smell," he said. "Like flight, it is one of my vampire gifts. None know of it now, except for you. Godric knew, but he is gone."

"What about Pam?"

"She knows my sense of smell is strong, but she doesn't know it is beyond what a normal thousand-year-old would have."

"Thanks," Sookie said.

"For?"

"Trusting me with that information," she said.

He couldn't stop himself from resting his hand on one of her knees. "We will eventually have no secrets from each other, little one. That is inevitable."

She nodded.

"Can your gift go beyond that house?"

Sookie closed her eyes. "In the third house over, a teenager is babysitting an infant. She's trying to decide what color to paint her toenails." She took a deep breath. "I can tell there's someone in the fourth house over, but his thoughts are fuzzy—not like a Were's thoughts, but just not quite in my range."

"Try on the other side of us."

Sookie nodded, and then continued to tell Eric of the thoughts she heard from the people living all around the safe house.

"Good," Eric said after she'd pushed the range of her telepathy to its limits. "We will practice each night." He smiled. "Plus, as a bonus, your telepathy will help me to know whom to glamour to run our errands for us. Go ahead and write down any food items you need for the next few days. I assume the cooler kept things from spoiling?"

"Yeah—those re-freezable blue blocks kept things nice and cold," she responded. "I have them in the freezer getting them ready for tomorrow."

"Good," Eric said again. "I will return in a moment." The vampire pulled his hand from Sookie's knee and went to unload the car. He put most of the things in the garage and then brought in his bag. He could have left the other things in the vehicle, but he didn't want to chance them being lost if something unforeseeable such as a car accident occurred while the human he planned to glamour was getting gasoline. He took his bag directly to the basement where he found his small, light-tight room. He would not be resting there for the day, but he would shower and change there.

When Eric got back to the kitchen, Sookie was doing the few dishes she'd used. "Why do you have things like pots and pans in your safe houses?" she asked as she wiped the counter.

"The more it seems like a human _could_ live here, the better."

"But don't the neighbors know there's no one living here?"

"No," he smirked. "This home is officially owned by the couple next door, though they have been glamoured to forget that. Their names are Mike and Diane Aldridge."

"Huh?" she asked. "You don't own this house?"

He shook his head. "No—though I did pay for it. When I buy a new residence for one of my escape routes, I glamour a human to do it," he responded. "I have to visit in order to initiate the purchase, and then I must return in order to be invited inside the home. The Aldridges have also been glamoured to tell others around this neighborhood that the person who lives here—a man named Jacob Brown—likes to keep to himself and travels a lot. The lights are on a timing system and turn on and off at various times throughout the month. And Diane is glamoured to clean this home every other month, while Mike oversees the yard. In return, I send them a money order from "Jacob Brown" each year which more than covers their expenses, time, the house's bills and the property taxes. I have similar arrangements for most of the residences we'll be using. In fact, all of them—except for the one where we'll stay in California—were bought before the Great Revelation, so I thought it best to place human items in them."

Sookie shook her head a little. "It all sounds really complicated and must be time-consuming to pull together."

Eric smiled. "Sometimes it is. However, Godric taught me the value of having an escape route." He paused. "When I was a young vampire—probably a hundred or so—an enemy of Godric's hunted us down. It was then that I came to understand the use of having a well-thought-out plan to follow if need be. Godric and I hid and bided our time until his enemy—who was quite a bit older than Godric—let his guard down. And then we struck. When I separated from my maker, I always made sure to have my own route in place, and I try to update things every five years or so, especially the security of the residences. Pam had another route to follow—as I told you before."

"Yeah—but she gets to stay with Elvis," she pouted a little.

"Bubba," Eric corrected.

Sookie nodded as she recalled what Eric had told her about Elvis's transformation. "Well," she said, "at least, all of your places have coffee makers."

Eric chuckled. "Indeed—that is one of the things that humans always seem to have in their homes; however, as I said, our last destination will require that we get furniture and supplies. In fact, I thought that you might enjoy furnishing it."

"Me?" she asked with surprise.

"Yes. You can order most things online so that they arrive the evening after we arrive. I will glamour the deliverymen so that they do not remember us. You can get anything you want. I will draw you a layout of the house so that you can begin shopping as we get closer."

She smiled a little. "That actually sounds fun."

"Good," he remarked, picking up the short list she'd made for the grocery store. "Check on the person across the street again for me?" he requested.

She stretched out her telepathy. "He's still alone and watching the baseball ballgame."

Eric quickly opened the door to the garage. "Come," he said, reaching out his hand. Sookie, who had just dried her hands, took his. He led them out of the house through the garage and inhaled deeply to make sure no one was around before picking her up into his arms and flying them swiftly across the street.

She gasped and her fear rose as they were in the air.

"I have you, little one," Eric assured before landing and setting her softly onto her feet. "You know what to do?" he asked in a whisper.

She nodded, steeled her resolve, and went up to the front door. She rang the doorbell and stepped back. About thirty seconds later, a man opened the door.

"Can I help ya?" he asked.

Within the next instant, Eric had zipped in front of Sookie, and had captured the man's eyes.

"Invite us in," Eric said.

"Would y'all please come in?" the man said in a deep Texas accent.

Eric and Sookie quickly went inside. The vampire immediately began to speak. "Are you expecting anyone to come here during the next two hours?"

"No," the man answered, with the glazed-over expression that Sookie associated with glamour. "My wife works the night shift at the hospital. She won't be home till 4:00 a.m."

"Good. You will take these keys," Eric said, handing the man a spare set of keys for the Prius, "and walk across the street. There is a car in the garage, and you will drive the car to the nearest gas station to fill it up. After that, you will go to a nearby grocery store and get these items." He handed over Sookie's short grocery list. "If you see someone you know and they ask you about the vehicle, you will say that your own car is in the shop, and you are borrowing a friend's car. You will not recall us and will believe that this errand is for you and your wife."

The man nodded again as Eric handed him enough cash to cover the purchases.

"After your errands, you will return the car to the garage across the street, leave the keys and items you purchased inside of it, and return here. You will not remember that you had visitors or that you left your house tonight."

The man nodded mindlessly and then walked out of the front door. Eric waited until the man had pulled the car out of the garage before he grabbed Sookie's hand again. He made sure that the front door of the man's house was unlocked before quickly flying Sookie back across the street and into the safe house. He quickly closed the garage door. He would open it again when he heard the car approaching.

Sookie breathed out a big sigh of relief.

Eric squeezed her hand before dropping it.

"Is that how you always do stuff like that?" she asked with a little awe in her voice.

"Only when I don't want to be seen—though it is easier with you along," he chuckled.

"How so?" she asked.

"As I indicated before, with your telepathy, you can help me to make sure that I choose the best human for the job. And your presence at the door at night is much less threatening than my own." He winked at her.

She giggled. "Well—it _is_ good to be of use."

"You are," he said smiling sincerely. "You know—if I had to be stuck in a Fae bond, I am glad it is with you," he said, remembering her words from that morning when she'd thought that he was dead for the day.

She felt her lips rise into a little smile. "I'm glad it's you too, Eric."

"I saw that you were reading the book Niall left you," he said breaking them out of the tender moment. "Did you learn anything?"

She sighed. "Not much yet, but I read for only a little while. It was talking about how the light I can shoot from my hands is connected to my spark, which seems to be connected to my emotions. I guess that's why I've been able to use it only when I've been scared or mad. But the book also said that I could learn how to control the light without my emotions."

Eric nodded. "Good. You should read as much of it as you can during the next week, and we will soon be in secluded places where you can practice your gift too."

"Is there something happening in a week?" she asked.

"Yes," Eric nodded. "Your great-grandfather will likely not be back in this realm for a while, and I get the impression that he has cut off all ties with you since you are," he paused, "bonded to a vampire."

Sookie's face fell. "I guess I already knew that—or guessed it."

"I'm sorry. I know you treasure your family," Eric said softly.

"Niall's _not_ my family," Sookie said quickly. "Jason is. Tara and Lafayette are. And you."

The vampire smiled a little and nodded in acknowledgment of her words. "Your cousin, Claudine will also be leaving this realm—as Niall no longer feels she can protect you with me around." He scoffed, "Niall seems to forget the fact that I cannot protect you during the day and that your cousin could help you then."

"I can't say I'm surprised," she said sadly.

Eric wanted to take her hand again, but refrained. "After meeting your great-grandfather, I'm not either. But you will meet your cousin Claudine for one day next week."

Sookie's eyebrows raised in question.

"I negotiated an agreement with Niall. Claudine will be meeting you during the day in six days' time. She will come at sunrise and stay until sunset. During that day, you can train with her and ask any questions that you have about your fairy family. She may be instructed not to answer some things, however."

"So I'll get to meet Claudine?" Sookie asked with a mixture of surprise and hope in her voice.

"Yes," Eric responded. "I suggest that you learn what you can from the book Niall gave you so that your time with her will be better spent. I will make sure that we are in a secluded place for your meeting. It will add a bit of time to our trip to California, but I think it will be worthwhile."

Sookie smiled at the prospect of meeting another member of her family. "I just hope she's not like Niall."

"Me too," Eric smiled.

"Thanks," Sookie said sincerely, reaching out unconsciously to take his hand.

Eric smiled and brought her hand to his lips. "It will be good for both of us if you learn to master your light."

She nodded in agreement.

"On another topic, there are also some things concerning Hunter that I have arranged."

She tensed a little.

"I believe you will approve," he said comfortingly, squeezing her hand. "The night you were taken, I arranged with Mr. Cataliades to find the boy. And Niall agreed last night to pass along Hunter's last known address to Cataliades."

"Okay," Sookie said. "What about after he's found? I mean—I assume we can't make direct contact with him."

"No," Eric said regretfully, "at least not until the Russell problem has been solved, but I have made arrangements regarding him nonetheless."

"What arrangements?" she asked.

"Just a moment," Eric said as he quickly zipped from the kitchen to the garage, opening the garage door. The vampire stayed in the shadows as the man from across the street drove the car into the garage and parked. The man quickly exited the vehicle and then walked out of the garage and across the street. Once he was inside his own home, Eric lowered the garage door."

The vampire took the two bags of groceries out of the car as well as the extra keys out of the ignition before going into the kitchen where Sookie was waiting.

"Can you read his thoughts?" Eric requested.

"I already did," Sookie responded. "He's returned to watching the game on television, and nothing seems out of the ordinary to him. He thinks that he must have dosed off for a while."

Eric nodded and placed the groceries on the counter. "I will do a quick scan of the area while you put these away, and then we can talk more about Hunter. Shall we meet in the living room in ten minutes?"

Sookie nodded and then put away the perishable groceries while Eric went out into the backyard. He flew in a carefully constructed pattern around the neighborhood in order to make sure that there was nothing amiss. On his earlier sweep, he'd already determined that the faint Were scent he'd picked up on was nothing to be concerned about. Then he returned to the garage to quickly change the license plate on the Prius.

Meanwhile, after putting away the groceries, Sookie decided to get comfortable by changing into her nightgown. She paused momentarily before doing this, but Eric had seen her in her sleeping garment so many times that it didn't make a difference. She grabbed the quilt she'd brought from Slidell since there were no throw blankets in the living room and the house was cool due to the air conditioning she'd turned on when they arrived.

When she got to the living room, Eric was already sitting on one end of the couch.

"You brought the quilt from Slidell," he observed.

"Yeah—uh—Gran always said you should have a blanket in the car," she stammered.

Eric nodded and gestured toward the other end of the long couch.

She got herself comfortable.

"So—concerning Hunter," he began again. "After finding him, Mr. Cataliades will have someone make an assessment of the father. If he is found to be of adequate nature to care for a telepath, he will be approached by an acquaintance of Mr. Cataliades who teaches demon children who are telepaths. The teacher, Finola, is half demon and will stay with or near Hunter until he is trained adequately."

"What about if Hunter's dad isn't . . . ." She stopped midsentence. "What if his dad is like my mom was?"

"If that is the case, Mr. Cataliades will arrange for guardians for the boy—Weres or demons since he'd have a harder time reading their thoughts. Finola will still train him. There is also to be a trust set up for Hunter. He will be taken care of financially—no matter what happens to us—and Cataliades will do what he can to make sure Hunter's telepathy remains a secret."

Sookie looked at Eric with wonder. "You did all this? When?"

"The night you disappeared," he answered quietly.

"Before you learned of the Fae bond," she said with a bit of resignation in her tone.

"Yes."

"If you want to take it away, I'll understand," she said evenly. "It sounds like all this will cost a lot of money, and I don't know how I could ever repay you."

"I have more money than even Pam could spend," Eric answered evenly. "Plus—we are together now, and your concerns are my concerns."

She inhaled deeply. "I don't know how to thank you—not just for this with Hunter, but for the way you haven't blamed me for what's happened."

"You will never have to thank me for anything," he said, his eyes boring into her.

Sookie caught her breath. It seemed as if he were looking right into her soul.

"We have one more thing to discuss, and then you should get some sleep," he continued quietly. "Tomorrow, we will leave here around dawn. I will wake you an hour before we go so that you can eat your morning meal and so that we can discuss tomorrow's route before I get into the enclosure in the car."

She nodded and they were silent for a few minutes.

"Okay. What else do you want to discuss?" Sookie finally asked.

"Forming a vampire bond," he responded.

* * *

**A/N: Hiya! Thanks for all the responses to the last two chapters! I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read and comment! Also, a special thanks to those of you who have asked about my health. My migraines, thankfully, are on hiatus. Hopefully, they will stay away. But I'm still limiting computer time, though—being on "staycation"—I can focus what time I do spend on the computer to fun stuff. **

**That said, this was quickly edited so that I could get it to you today. Hopefully, I didn't miss any typos. Please forgive me for any lapses. **

**I'll be transitioning to **_**Touch the Flame**_** for a bit, but I'll catch you after that with more of this story! **

**Next up: The pros and cons of the vampire bond…And, of course, Sookie and Eric will continue to throw mixed feelings/messages at us and each other. Sigh…they are both stubborn with their hearts at this point. Oh well, they learned of the Fae bond only about 24 hours earlier, so I "guess" they need some time processing. **

**Until next time,**

**Kat**

**Remember to check out my blog to see Seph's art for the story and chapter (californiakat1564 . wordpress . com).**


	10. Chapter 10: Magnitude

**Chapter 10: Magnitude **

"_**We are each other's magnitude and bond."—Gwendolyn Brooks**_

Last time:_"We have one more thing to discuss, and then you should get some sleep," he continued quietly. "Tomorrow, we will leave here around dawn. I will wake you an hour before we go so that you can eat your morning meal and so that we can discuss tomorrow's route before I get into the enclosure in the car." _

_ She nodded and they were silent for a few minutes._

_ "Okay. What else do you want to discuss?" Sookie finally asked. _

_ "Forming a vampire bond," he responded._

Sookie exhaled loudly.

"It will be your decision—whether or not we form one," Eric said. "But I want you to begin considering it."

"Will you tell me about it? What it will do?"

He nodded. "Yes. A vampire bond is rare—probably just as rare as a Fae bond."

"Why?"

"It creates equal footing between a bonded pair. Plus, long separations are impossible between a bonded pair."

"And vampires like control—and independence," Sookie observed.

"Yes."

Sookie took a deep breath. "How is a bond different than a tie?"

"Well—as you know, a tie occurs when a vampire gives a human blood. In essence the vampire's blood ties itself to the human's blood. That tie will eventually die if it is not renewed. Ties are made for a variety of reasons." Eric paused for a moment. "Would you like to hear them?"

Sookie nodded.

"Okay," Eric explained, "generally, a vampire will tie with a human in order to control the human to a certain extent. The more blood, the deeper the influence. The older the vampire, the deeper the influence."

Sookie shifted a little, stretching out her legs until they were nearer the center of the couch.

Eric went on. "There are really two schools of thought among vampires—as far as controlling humans goes. There are those that use glamour almost exclusively and those that rely on ties. Godric was of the former school of thought. However, ties are thought to be better by many—stronger than just glamour alone—but a vampire gives something of himself when he gives his blood. Most vampires use glamour or a tie to control at least one human in their lives. These are called 'day-men' or 'day-women.' As I told you, I have—or had—a day-man named Bobby Burnham, and I have had other day-men before, such as Brady's grandfather. Until Lafayette, I have always used glamour with humans I needed to control in some way."

"Can you glamour Weres?"

"Not as easily as humans, but—yes—I have developed that skill over time. I have used glamour with Weres in order to make sure they cannot speak of my businesses or my resting places _if_ they know of them."

"What about Brady?"

Eric smirked. "You are clever to think of him, Sookie. Yes—Brady has been glamoured to keep my secrets too—and to give me a call if he ever decides to betray me."

"A call?" Sookie asked.

Eric nodded. "It is a failsafe I have used with all my day-people too. It is impossible to anticipate all situations that might make one person betray another. So glamour can't be used as a deterrent for all potentialities."

"But—if someone ever did decide to betray you, you'd be the first to know," Sookie observed.

"Indeed."

"Can vampires glamour other types of beings—other than humans and Weres?"

Eric shook his head. "No. We cannot glamour other vampires or fairies, which is likely why you are immune. Also, we cannot glamour demons, and I couldn't glamour Octavia even though she is only part Dae. In addition to not being susceptible to glamour, demons are also able to conceal their secrets with other forms of magic. That is why they make such good lawyers," he said with a chuckle.

"Wait. Octavia is part demon?" Sookie asked, stretching her legs out a little more.

"I thought I'd told you that she was," Eric said.

Sookie shook her head. "No—you said that Desmond Cataliades was her godfather, but I didn't know she was part demon."

"Sorry," Eric said, unconsciously reaching out and taking her foot to begin rubbing it. "I didn't mean to keep it from you."

"I know," Sookie said. "Funny. I could 'hear' Octavia with my telepathy," she mused, "though she was a bit harder to read than others. I had speculated that was because she was a witch."

"Maybe it was," Eric shrugged. "Since she is both witch and part-Dae, she is formidable. Octavia—because of her practice in human magic as well as her inherent Dae magic—is able to cover her demon scent. Thus, she has the ability to _pretend_ like she's only a human." His eyes filled with humor. "She can also pretend as if she's been glamoured. I've seen it firsthand."

Sookie grinned. "Lemme guess. She tricked _you_ with her performance."

Eric chuckled. "Yes—the first time I met her." He shook his head. "In fact, she had me believing that she could be glamoured for quite some time. And it was decades before I knew about her demon lineage."

Sookie giggled. "You'll have to tell me more about her sometime."

Eric smirked. "Maybe. Anyway, though hardly anyone knows of Octavia's Dae blood, many supernaturals know that her husband is part demon. And trust me when I say that no vampire wants to fuck with demons. They are known to hold grudges for generations."

"I'll remember that," Sookie smiled. "So are you saying that vampires will 'think' they have glamoured Octavia, even when they haven't? Or are you saying that they will just leave her alone because of who her husband is."

"A little of both," Eric answered, smiling at Sookie's astuteness. "That is another reason why Octavia's not really worried about Hallow. If Hallow does track her down somehow, she will hold back because of Octavia's connections. The most Hallow could do would be to tell Victor or Russell that Octavia was involved. Thinking she was a human witch married to a demon, Russell would likely contact the demon and ask for his permission to glamour Octavia so that he could question her about me."

"And _not_ having anything to hide, she would agree without hesitation," Sookie intoned.

"Of course," Eric said with a wry smile.

Neither she nor Eric had taken note that they'd inched a little closer to each other and that he was still lightly stroking her foot through the quilt.

Sookie thought for a minute. "Why else do vampires make ties?"

Eric sighed. "As I suggested, it is most often to maintain control over the emotions of humans—especially day-people. But sometimes they create ties to keep pets in line as well."

"Pets?" Sookie asked.

"Yes. A pet is a human that the vampire claims as his or her own. Other vampires cannot use the pet without the permission of the pet's master or mistress. Pets are kept for blood and sex—and for vampires to demonstrate their power upon," he added with disdain. "The practice of making pets has been around for as long as vampires have been. Pets used to be called _sanguinem iumenta_."

"What does that mean?"

"Blood livestock."

"Was Bill marking me as his 'blood animal' when he said I was 'his' at Fangtasia?" Sookie asked, disgust tinging her tone.

"Yes," Eric answered. "As his superior in rank, I could have taken you from him, but I intuited that that action would _not_ have helped my cause to win you," he smirked.

"It wouldn't have," she chuckled. "So—a tie helps a vampire track a human, allows the vampire to feel the human's emotions, lets the vampire control those emotions to a certain extent, enables the vampire to send dreams of various kinds to the human, and causes the human to be more attracted to the vampire. Does that about sum things up?"

"Yes," Eric smiled. "That is a good summation."

"And bonds?"

"Well—as I have said, they require three _mutual_ blood exchanges."

"You and I had our first exchange already—right?" she questioned. "After Niall brought me back from the fairy world?"

"Yes," he answered. "Making an exchange was what Niall and Octavia counseled for me to do in order to wake you up. I now know that they also suggested it because it somehow healed the Fae bond, which had been," he paused, "traumatized by our sudden separation."

She let out a shaky breath. "And—later that night—I had your blood again?"

"Yes. But since that was not a mutual exchange, it just made our tie a little stronger. Thus far, all we have is a tie. It would not be termed a bond until after a third exchange."

"So with two more exchanges, we would have a vampire bond," she said.

"Yes," he confirmed.

"You've told me why vampires make ties, and I see how ties could benefit them. But why do vampires create bonds?"

Eric sighed. "A vampire makes a bond for only one of two reasons: affection or obsession."

"Obsession?"

"Yes."

"So I'm lucky Bill didn't force one on me?" Sookie asked with a little shiver.

Eric nodded in affirmation. "Yes. Ironically, you were fortunate that Sophie-Anne was Bill's master and had ordered that you be procured for her. Left to his own devices, Bill would have likely forced or manufactured enough blood exchanges to bond with you."

Sookie took a long, shaky breath. "And bonds for affection?" she asked.

Eric's expression relaxed, and for a moment he looked at her with an expression that could only be described as longing. "A bonded human would be a true sharer with his or her vampire; the human would feel the vampire's emotions as much as the vampire would feel the human's. If close enough, the human could also track the vampire, which could—potentially—be very dangerous for the vampire. However, the vampire would have the ability to shut down the bond to prevent the tracking. I don't know if you would have a similar shielding ability. Being part-Fae, you might."

"Okay," Sookie said. "What else is different about a bond?"

"We would both be able to control each other's emotions to a certain extent, but from what I have heard, it is not as we might think—and not nearly as," he paused, "_subtle_ as a tie."

"Subtle?"

"Yes. As you know, it is difficult for a human to know when a vampire is affecting a tie, though I think the fairy in you helped you to intuit, to a certain extent, when you were being manipulated by Compton—at least once you knew what you were looking for.

"With a bond, you would _definitely_ know what was coming from me," Eric continued. "I could send you emotions—like caution or comfort. But you would feel what was coming from me, and you could accept the emotions or reject what I sent. You would have choice. And—you could do the same for me. And we would not be able to lie to one another—at least, not without our deception coming through the bond."

"So it's not like the Fae bond or a tie because we would know what our _own_ emotions were?"

"Yes. And we would not have to accept what the other was sending," he reiterated.

"Well—that actually sounds preferable to what the Fae bond does," Sookie observed.

Eric nodded. "But there are other things too—things you might _not_ like much." He sighed. "A vampire bond would make us even more sexually attracted to each other—probably to the point that we'd be in physical pain if we resisted the urge to have intercourse."

Sookie immediately reddened. "Uh—okay." She giggled to cut the tension she felt. "Not that I wasn't _already_ attracted to you."

He smirked. "And I you."

"So it would be like the attraction a tie creates—but on crack? _Plus_, the attraction that's been between us all along?"

Eric chuckled. "Yes. Everything that a tie can do, a bond does stronger or slightly differently. The main difference between the two is that the vampire _shares_ control with the human, thus accounting for the rarity of bonds—as I indicated before. There are other benefits for the human as well. A bond helps the human to live longer, especially if blood sharing is regular. A human's senses are sharper, and he or she is stronger. The human is less likely to get sick."

"What does the vampire get out of a bond?" Sookie asked skeptically. "Vampires _always_ seem to get the upper hand in things like this."

Eric chuckled. "You are learning. However, in a bond, the vampire doesn't get an upper hand; I think there is more of a balance achieved. The main attraction is that the vampire gains a human companion for long while, a companion who is incapable of betraying his or her vampire. Most often, a bond is a precursor to a vampire turning a human with whom he or she wants to maintain an enduring relationship. However, according to Niall, we would not have to consider the option of turning you for a long time because your lifespan will be much longer than that of a full-blooded human." He paused. "Octavia also believes that if we had a vampire bond, it might counter the power of the Fae bond to a certain extent."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"This," Eric said, pointing to their hands which had now become entangled without either of them realizing it sometime during their conversation.

He sighed. "I just realized that we were touching a few moments ago. I do not recall initiating the touch. I do not recall returning the touch. But I feel better for having it, and I am loath to break it."

She looked at their hands, registering for the first time that they were touching. "Oh!" she said with surprise. However, she couldn't bring herself to break the touch either.

"Octavia thinks that a vampire bond would help us to not be so dependent upon _physical_ contact—because we would feel each other's emotions. When two fairies bond, they would likely be able to communicate through their telepathy—even if they were out of each other's sight. And that likely helps them to be assured that their mate is safe and secure. A vampire bond could do something similar for us—only, instead of thoughts, we would feel each other's emotions."

"So—if we could feel each other through the vampire bond, we'd be able to be more independent from each other?"

Eric nodded. "Theoretically—though we would still probably feel better when we were in close proximity."

Sookie contemplated for a moment. "What else are you thinking?" she asked astutely.

"Do you want honesty?"

"Yes."

"I am thinking that a vampire bond might help us to distinguish our own feelings from those of the Fae bond. I am thinking that a vampire bond would allow me more equal footing in whatever it is that we are making together."

She sighed. "You're probably right."

He squeezed her hand. "But it would take away one of the things you like best about me?"

"What's that?"

"Mystery," he smiled. "You would not be able to hear my thoughts, but you _would_ feel what I felt. The silence you crave—and the peace—would be replaced by your knowing my emotions unless I was actively blocking them from you. And I would sense yours even more strongly than I do now. We wouldn't have the ability to keep secrets from each other, Sookie."

The telepath exhaled loudly. "Is there anything else?"

"If you were in pain, I would feel it as if it were my own. If I were in pain, you would feel it—though I could shield some of it."

"And there's no way to break a vampire bond—right? You said before that even Octavia's spell wouldn't have done anything to a bond—if that's what I'd had with Bill?" she asked.

Eric tensed, and Sookie squeezed his hand.

"A vampire bond is breakable in only one way: death," Eric reported. "Of what I have heard, the vampire would survive such a breaking; however, the human usually doesn't." He sighed. "And even if magic could be found to break it, I have a feeling that it would be extremely dangerous for us to try because of the Fae bond. Once we are closer, the Fae bond will fight to keep us that way."

Sookie considered for a moment. "What if another vampire tried to give me blood?"

"Your body would expel it to prevent a tie."

"What about the blood between us? Would we _have_ to keep exchanging?"

Eric sighed again, sounding very human at the moment. "Sookie, I already crave your blood like nothing else. Even as we sit here, I thirst for it, and that feeling is coming from my _own_ instincts as well as from the Fae bond, which wants me to take it so that we will be closer—more connected. TrueBlood and even the human blood I drank last night pale in comparison, but they still nourish me, which is good. If we had a vampire bond, I would _have_ _to_ take your blood on occasion; otherwise, I would be driven mad by my cravings—to the point that I would hurt you. If we formed a vampire bond, we would have to feed from each other at least once a week in order to slow your aging. We could try to refrain from sex, but that would be difficult."

Sookie was somewhat astounded by the evenness of Eric's tone as he explained everything to her. However, she could tell from his eyes that there was a storm inside of him—at least until he noticed that she was looking at him with a little trepidation. Then, he reigned in his emotions.

"You should think about all of this for a while," he said. "When you are ready, we can talk again."

She nodded. "Okay. I guess I'll try to sleep now. I should take a shower when I get up in the morning and then reapply the potion—right?"

"Yes. While you sleep, I will do another sweep and then get your route information ready. I'll leave it on the kitchen counter for you."

Sookie sighed as Eric broke their shared grasp and got up. She also got up, grabbed the fairy book and her quilt, and went into her bedroom. She used the en-suite bathroom to take care of her human needs and to brush her teeth. Then she went to the bed and wrapped herself into the quilt. It was a comfortable bed—not as big as the one in Slidell—but the mattress was obviously of good quality and new. Still—she knew that it would likely take her a long time before she could sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Hello! If you are from the U.S. and celebrate, then happy Independence Day! If you are from somewhere other than the U.S., then happy random day in July!**

**Thanks so much to all of you who commented on the chapters posted last week. I really appreciate your continued support! **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I rewrote it a few times (so forgive any lingering typos since it was being changed so much). I wanted to try to capture both the pros and cons of the vampire bond for Sookie. Eric has already decided that he wants one. But—for Sookie—the stakes are higher. Eric is a welcome and wonderful void to her right now. But—with a bond—she would know what he felt. I think he appreciates the fact that she needs to take her time to make this decision, and I think that Eric's patience in this matter is extremely telling of his unselfish behavior where she's concerned. In fact, I hope that I am showing that they are both being careful and thoughtful in their decision-making. Anyway—enough talk. **

**Up next: A call to Mr. Cataliades spurs Eric into setting up a red herring for Russell.**

**Until then,**

**Kat**

**P.S. Remember that you can see art of this story (by Sephrenia) on my WordPress (californiakat1564. wordpress. com). **


	11. Chapter 11: Room for Maneuver

**Chapter 11: Room for Maneuver **

Last time: _"Take a while to consider whether you want a vampire bond," Eric said. "When you are ready, we can talk again."_

_ Sookie nodded. "Okay. I guess I'll try to sleep now. I should take a shower when I get up in the morning and then reapply the potion—right?"_

_ "Yes. While you sleep, I will do another sweep and then get your route information ready. I'll leave it on the kitchen counter for you." _

_ Sookie sighed as Eric broke their shared grasp and got up. She also got up, grabbed the fairy book and her quilt, and went into her bedroom. She used the en-suite bathroom to take care of her human needs and to brush her teeth. Then she went to the bed and wrapped herself into the quilt. It was a comfortable bed—not as big as the one in Slidell—but the mattress was obviously of good quality and new. Still—she knew that it would likely take her a long time before she could sleep. _

An hour later, Eric was pacing in the basement. It hadn't taken him much time to do what he needed to do that night. He decided that he would use his home just beyond Fredericksburg, Texas, for their next stop. It was more of a duplex than a stand-alone home, but it would be good for Sookie to practice her telepathy and shields in such a place. Also, it would take her only four hours to get there. Eric liked to space his homes 4 to 6 hours apart by car. Had he been traveling alone, he would have needed to drive or fly at night, and he didn't like to be out in the open for too long at any one time.

He sighed heavily and looked at the ceiling. After planning the route and plotting it on the map for Sookie, he had written down the codes for the Fredericksburg residence. Then he'd made another sweep of the surrounding area, hoping that he would hear the even breathing of Sookie's sleep when he got back.

Sadly, he had not. She was tossing and turning.

Hoping to get good news about Hunter—and to distract himself from the restless woman upstairs—Eric pulled out his phone to check in with Cataliades.

The demon answered on the first ring. "Cataliades here," he greeted.

"Is there any news on the child?" Eric asked the lawyer, not bothering with a greeting of his own.

"Yes," Cataliades responded. "Niall contacted me with Hunter's location. I am sending someone to make contact with the father—a Remy Savoy—tomorrow."

"Good," Eric said. "Anything else?"

"No," Desmond reported. "But I will have to provide _him_ with something soon," he said somewhat hesitantly. "If I don't, he may begin to suspect that I am impeding rather than helping in his search for you."

Eric sighed. "Understood. I will leave behind a trace of myself where I am today, and I will contact you again in two days' time to give you the location. At that time, you can tell Russell that you have discovered a new property that I own through a human couple—a home where someone matching my description has been spotted."

"That will be satisfactory," Cataliades said. "After you tell me the location, I will have Octavia conduct a sweep in order to ensure that Sookie's scent has not been left behind _before_ I contact Russell."

"Good," Eric said, looking again toward the ceiling. "It is best if no others find out Sookie is alive."

There was a pause in the conversation.

"Just tell me that I will be sending Russell and Victor somewhere they will hate visiting," Cataliades said with an amused tinge in his voice.

"Oh—it will be," Eric said with a smirk. "And I think I can arrange for a little surprise for them as well."

"Good," Cataliades remarked. "I will speak to you in two nights, Eric," he added before hanging up.

Eric once more looked at the ceiling as he heard Sookie tossing and turning again.

At least now he had a reason to go up to her. He quickly zipped up the stairs to see that she'd left the door to her room open.

"Sookie?" he asked from the doorway.

She sat up in bed and looked at him, a bit startled by his voice. "Was I bothering you? Sorry. I guess I'm not tired yet."

"No, you weren't bothering me," he conveyed. And she wasn't—not really. Or, at least, not intentionally. "We just need to talk about something. Cataliades is feeling pressured to give some information to Russell."

Sookie tensed. "Okay."

"In two days' time, Cataliades will tell Russell and Victor of this location, but that means that nothing of you or your scent can be left behind. You haven't washed your face since you arrived at this house—have you?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Good. I'm afraid your shower will have to wait until our next destination, but it is only a four hour drive."

"Oh—okay," Sookie said. "That's fine. My clothes and things won't leave a trace—will they?" She paused and then had another thought. "But if Victor and Russell come here, won't they smell human food?"

"Yes," Eric said, "but that is where Mike and Diane Aldridge will come in. I will glamour them to move in here for a while."

"But Victor or Russell might hurt them," Sookie said with fear in her voice.

"They won't," Eric assured. "Victor will glamour them. And I can anticipate what he will ask so that they will tell him what we want him to hear. When Cataliades shows Russell the paperwork for this house, he will see that I used the Aldridges to buy it. Plus, I intend to have a little surprise for Victor and Russell when they come. Russell will likely keep surveillance on the Aldridges, but no harm will come to them."

"You're sure?"

Eric nodded. "Neither Victor nor Russell would risk killing humans in Texas, especially since the Aldridges will be forthcoming under glamour, but know very little."

"What about the light-tight technology here—and the alarm?"

He smirked at her. "You are good at seeing many angles, Sookie. You will soon outpace me, I think. Come," he said, "get dressed. I need your help." Eric left the room and waited for Sookie. Within two minutes, she had joined him, wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers.

"Good—you look non-threatening," he smiled. "What are our neighbors doing?"

Having already used her telepathy to figure that out as she was dressing, Sookie had an immediate answer. "Mike is reading a book, but he's dozing. Diane is playing computer solitaire."

Eric nodded and reached out for Sookie's hand. Hers was in his immediately. He led her to the back door and into the backyard. "Wow!" she whispered. "A pool," she added longingly.

He smiled to himself, knowing that their destination two days from then—a ranch house in Fort Stockton—had a pool. He planned for them to stay there for two days, and though Sookie couldn't swim much—lest she wash away the potion concealing her scent—she could lay out in her beloved sun.

Eric flew them over the fence and to the Aldridge's front yard, and after assessing the area, he gave her a nod.

She rang the doorbell.

"Mike!" shouted a female's voice. "Someone's at the door."

"Diane doesn't answer the door at night," Sookie whispered nervously as she read the woman's mind.

Eric nodded and stayed in the shadows.

Mike opened the door a little cautiously. "Hi. What can I do for you, Miss?"

As before, Eric zipped in front of Sookie and caught Mike in his glamour. "Hello, Mike, do you remember me?" Eric asked.

"Yes," Mike answered in a dazed way as if he were looking for a memory. "Hello. Please come in," he said.

"Thank you," Eric responded, taking Sookie's hand and leading her in as well.

Twenty minutes later, the vampire and the telepath exited the home, and the Aldridges were thoroughly glamoured.

The next day, Mike and Diane were going to be moving into the home next door. They would take their personal items, such as family photos. They would also take their clothing and hygiene items—anything that they normally needed. They would bring their office furniture over for the empty bedroom and would also bring anything else they wanted, such as their television and things from their kitchen.

In short, they would behave as if the home next to theirs was their "real" home.

If asked, they would tell their neighbors that their house had structural damage from a pipe bursting and that, until they could arrange for repairs, Jacob Brown—their often-working next-door neighbor—had offered to let them stay in his home for as long as they needed. They would volunteer no other information about their living arrangements to anyone else they knew.

However, if strangers came around asking questions, the Aldridges were to _believe_ and to speak of a very different story. They were to act as if they lived permanently in the home in which they were staying. They would claim that their "nephew," Eric, came to stay with them from time to time and that when he was there during the day, one of them would always stay home from work in order to make sure that no one came into the house since their nephew slept during the day because of his job. Beyond giving a physical description, they would not be able to say anything more about their nephew. But sketchiness was the goal. Eric _wanted_ for there to be holes in the Aldridges' story so that the presence of glamour was very clear.

He also wanted Russell and Victor to believe that he operated similarly with the rest of his safe houses.

Mike and Diane would claim that their "nephew" had visited them several times during the last month, from September 10th through the 12th, from September 16th through the 18th, and again from September 20th to the 23rd. They would say that they didn't know when he'd be back, but that he'd asked them to buy some more of his "special drink." And Eric glamoured the couple to do just that—to buy several six packs of TrueBlood and place them into the small refrigerator kept in the basement.

Sookie had watched with amazement as Eric had knitted together the story for the Aldridges to tell. Of course, one feature of that story had been forgetting completely about the girl their "nephew" had been with. And, as long as strangers weren't asking them questions, the Aldridges were to go on with their lives as normal—the only difference being that they would be living next door to their own home for a year.

It was only after Sookie and Eric were back in the safe house that Sookie asked some questions. "Why did you tell them to stay here for a year?"

"I want Russell to think that I may come back here. He will likely have this place watched for many months, and it would be best for the Aldridges if Russell and Victor thought they might still be of use to me."

"Oh. What if a year comes and goes and they move home?"

"By then, Russell probably won't be watching; however, if he is, that would actually be even better. The Aldridges will not remember their little masquerade after a year, so Russell will know that their glamour runs quite deep. He will likely continue to keep an eye on the house, but, after a year, he won't give the humans another thought."

"How are you going to make it seem like you've been here more often than you have been?"

Eric smiled and then went to the sink. He grabbed the wet washrag from the counter and refreshed it with warm water before scrubbing his forehead. "I intend to leave evidence," he smirked.

His next action was to go to the refrigerator. Since they had a case of bloods in reserve, he got the six pack of TrueBloods that the man across the street had bought earlier and warmed them up one by one. He drank a large gulp from each before pouring the rest down the sink.

"Given my age, I would generally need to drink only one of these every other night in order to maintain my strength, but I want for Russell to think that I see this place as safe—and, therefore, will likely return here," Eric said as Sookie watched him with curiosity in her eyes as he began to rinse out the bottles. "Plus, Russell will assume that I occasionally feed on my hosts and heal their marks when I'm here. As for these," he said, motioning toward the now-rinsed bottles, "I will leave them in the garbage can in the garage."

"That's why you told the Aldridges not to take out the garbage in there for a week?" Sookie asked.

Eric nodded. "Yes. After the bottles have been in a hot Texas garage for a few days, Victor won't be able to tell if they have been there for hours or weeks, but he will pick up my scent on each of them." He smirked. "I have some more clothing in my room downstairs. I keep a little at each of my safe houses. I will wear some of it so that it carries my scent, and then I will leave it behind."

"But my scent won't be left behind?" Sookie asked with trepidation.

Eric shook his head. "No. But to make sure, we will leave half an hour before dawn, and once you are out of this neighborhood, I will check for your scent. Remember that the potion accounts for any of the items that belong to you too; thus, as long as you have the potion on, your scent won't be left behind—nor will it be transferred from your personal items."

"What about the quilt?" Sookie asked a little sheepishly.

"The potion likely recognized that as yours as soon as you took it from the Slidell house, but that is one of the reasons why I will double check things."

"Why can I still—uh—smell your scent on the quilt?" Sookie asked with a blush. "And—uh—I can still smell _you_ too when we're close."

"The potion doesn't eliminate our scents fully," he explained. "It simply eliminates our ability to leave them behind—on anything."

Sookie nodded in understanding.

"As a safeguard, Octavia will come here _before_ Victor or Russell. I promise you that they will _not_ be told of this place until I am a hundred percent certain that no trace of you has been left behind."

Sookie nodded again and sighed with relief.

"There are now only five hours before I must wake you for us to leave," Eric said quietly. "Tomorrow, you can nap after we have reached our destination, and—hopefully—you will be able to get on a more consistent sleep schedule soon. I have to go downstairs so that my scent there is strong."

Sookie nodded for a third time and went into her room. She used the bathroom and then sunk into the bed, feeling even less sleepy than she was before—but much more tired. She was already looking forward to getting to Fredericksburg early in the day. She had a plan. Once they were safe in the garage, she'd curl up in the backseat and sleep until an hour before dark. Eric would never even have to know that she was that close to him, and she would be able to sleep soundly with him near. Of that, she was certain.

Meanwhile, Eric was glad for another distraction from the mix of feelings coming from Sookie. He went down to the basement and quickly took his dirty clothing from Slidell from his knapsack. Since the spell was no longer in effect on his body, his personal effects would also leave behind his scent. He put that clothing into the hamper and also took off the clothing he had on. He jumped into the shower and cleaned himself before deciding to leave behind a bottle of his shampoo and the bar of soap he'd been using.

Next, Eric checked the dresser. As was the same at all his safe houses, there were a couple of pairs of jeans, a few T-shirts, a pair of lounge pants, a pair of boots, and several pairs of socks in the drawers. There was also some money. He dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and used a pair of the socks. There was an empty knapsack in the closet, and he got it down and packed the other clothing and money inside of it before putting it back into the closet.

He'd glamoured Mike and Diane not to clean or wash anything in the basement for at least a week, which would give Victor plenty of time to find his "nest." Satisfied with the little imprint he'd left in the room and bathroom, Eric climbed into the bed in order to make sure the sheets carried his scent.

Unfortunately, once he was settled, he was unable to go into downtime because of the tossing and turning from the main floor. It seemed that Sookie still couldn't rest either, and Eric could easily guess why.

The vampire stared at the ceiling for another twelve minutes before he heard a single muffled sob. He was up and outside of Sookie's door almost before he could register moving.

"Sookie," he said softly as he approached the bed.

She turned over and looked up at him. Even in the darkness, he could see that her eyes were red from lack of sleep and unshed tears. He bent down and scooped her into his arms, making sure to take their quilt with them. Her arms went around his neck automatically.

"We will have to go to the basement," he said. "I cannot leave too much of my scent in the room. It would be natural for me to come into Mike and Diane's bedroom to feed as they slept, but my scent shouldn't be too prominent."

She nodded. "I'm sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry about," he soothed as he walked them down to the basement at human speed. "I should have brought you in here with me earlier. You need your sleep so that you can drive safely."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"The bed is small—I'm afraid. It is what you would term a twin bed."

"I noticed that before—in the basement of the Slidell house. Do you always have a small bed in your resting places? I'd think—since you are so tall—that you would have something bigger."

Eric chuckled as he settled them into the bed. So that they could fit comfortably, he lay her on her side and tucked in behind her. Although he didn't spoon himself fully against her body, he lay his hand on the place where her waist began to curve upward to her hip.

"Is this comfortable for you?" he asked.

She sighed her answer. "Yes."

"Good," he answered. In truth, it was the most comfortable that he'd felt that day as well. "To answer your question," he said, "I do not need a large bed for my resting places. Up until this moment, I have always been in them alone, and—once I am dead for the day—I am quite literally dead, so comfort is not really a factor."

"But your legs must stick off the bed," Sookie chuckled lightly before yawning deeply.

"If I am lying stretched out, they do, but like this, they do not. Remember, I grew up during a time when a bed was a pallet of furs and straw. And I have slept in the ground _many_ a day. This is luxury," he chuckled.

"Oh," she said as her body relaxed more into the bed. "Will you talk to me until I fall asleep? Like you used to do?" Her voice already sounded near sleep, and Eric knew that her fatigue was what was causing her to ask what she had. He'd become accustomed to telling her things about his long life as she'd fallen asleep—bedtime stories, as it were.

He hesitated for a moment, knowing that they had both been compelled by the Fae bond to share so much of themselves, but—with her next to him—he decided not to think about that. He'd let the Fae bond "win" this time.

He began speaking softly, "My mother was about six months pregnant when my father took me on a raid with him for the first time. A group of Danes from across the sea attacked a village that we were allied with at the time, so we joined them in seeking revenge. The Danes had also kidnapped the chieftain's daughter, as well as some other women, but they had not killed most of the men because they'd been on a hunting trip. Anyway—my father, Ulrick, felt it was time for me to take my first journey with the men. I was fifteen winters old at the time and _more_ than ready. I will never forget how my father fretted over leaving Mother while she was so great with child. Of course, no one let on that we knew why he was so upset, but all the men did."

Eric paused his speaking as he heard Sookie's light snore. He sighed; she was finally resting and that thought comforted him more than he was ready to acknowledge. Careful not to disturb her, he moved his body so that they were touching more fully. He inhaled deeply and brushed his lips against the back of her neck before finishing his story.

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**A/N: Hello! Another day, another chapter! Thank goodness for three things: 1.) the headaches staying away (knock on wood); 2.) my "stay-vaction" (yippee!); and 3.) y'all! Thanks for the wonderful comments/reviews about the last chapter! I'm glad that you understand why Sookie needs to NOT jump into something rashly (unlike her TB counterpart). **

**Next up: With Eric dead for the day, Sookie will think about the ways in which blood has controlled her sex life thus far. She doesn't want the same where Eric is concerned, but doesn't know how to avoid this b/c of the bond/tie. She will also recount an earlier woven dream that Bill had sent to her—one that she's afraid to tell even Eric about.**

**Until then,**

**Kat**

**P.S. Remember to visit my WordPress at californiakat1564. wordpress. com to see the art for this story by Sephrenia!**


	12. Chapter 12: A Glare that Obscures

**A/N:** I am so sorry! In the "Up next" teaser I included w/ the last chapter, I erroneously said that Sookie would be telling us about her first woven dream—one that she didn't realize was that kind of dream until later. I got my own wires crossed—I'm afraid—b/c that doesn't actually happen until Chapter 13. Sorry about that. I hope you still enjoy this chapter though.

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**Chapter 12: A Glare that Obscures**

"_**There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures."—James Thurber**_

Exactly sixty minutes before sunrise, Eric got out of bed carefully so that he wouldn't disturb Sookie. Quickly, he gathered the things he wasn't leaving behind and took them to the car before he put the ice blocks into the cooler.

"Hey," came Sookie's sleepy voice from the entryway to the kitchen.

"Hey," he repeated as he looked at the contents of the refrigerator with some confusion. "I am not sure what you're going to need for your breakfast."

"Just coffee and cereal," she said. "Oh—and milk for both."

He nodded and began to pack the cooler with the other foodstuffs.

She chuckled as she started her coffee.

"What?" he asked.

"The thought of you packing anything other than blood into a cooler is—well—it's funny."

He smiled back, "I cannot say that I have ever packed a cooler with human food."

She gazed over his shoulder as if examining his work.

"Hmmm," she sounded.

"You have a critique?" he smirked.

"Yes," she responded as she grabbed a bowl and poured in some cereal.

"Well?" he asked with a raised brow. "Let's hear it."

"It's just that granola bars and potato chips don't need to be in the cooler."

"Does being in there harm them?" he challenged.

"Only if moisture gets inside the packaging," she answered with a grin. "Things that don't have to be kept cold—I put in this," she said holding up a reusable grocery bag.

He winked at her and then gave her a playful look that stopped her heart for a moment.

In a flash, Eric had put all the groceries into their appropriate containers. He grabbed the empty TrueBlood bottles and zipped them to the garage as Sookie squeezed her hands into tight fists and worked to get her heart rate back to normal. She sighed to herself. Eric Northman really was too handsome for his own good.

Eric continued to load the car as she ate her small breakfast and then readied her thermos for the road. Eric indicated that the trip that day was only four hours, so she would wait to eat her lunch until she had arrived in Fredericksburg.

She looked up as Eric reentered the room. He had a map in his hands as well as a piece of paper with codes written on it. He began to talk her through the map. She would be taking Interstate 10 again, traveling west toward San Antonio, which she would skirt to the north.

She sighed longingly.

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

"It's just that I've always wanted to visit San Antonio—to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk. Maybe next time," she said with another sigh.

"List them," Eric returned.

"Huh?"

"The places you want to go—list them. If we live through all of this, we will deserve a," he paused, "vacation—yes? And beyond that, there will be much time for us to explore the world—together."

She looked at him a little uncertainly. "You're sure?"

"Yes, Sookie," he responded as he reached out to lightly stroke her cheek. "I have seen many places. I would like to see them with you now."

She smiled and leaned into his touch. "Okay. I'll start a list."

He nodded and then dropped his hand in order to show her the rest of the route. She would stay on Interstate 10 until she was near Comfort, Texas, at which point she would turn north onto Highway 87, which would take her into Fredericksburg. The place they would be staying at was an old house, which had been converted into a duplex, but there was a private entrance for Eric's half of the building, and there was a private garage as well.

Eric pointed out a couple of small towns along the route, which would be good to make stops in, but the actual selection of stops would be left up to Sookie.

"You will do fine," he said when he felt her nervousness.

She smiled up at him. "Thanks." She shook her head a little. "I'm still getting used to the fact that you can feel what I feel. What's it like?"

He pondered for a moment. "I imagine it is similar to your telepathy in a sense. Your feelings filter into my consciousness."

"And you can tell your own feelings from mine?"

He nodded in affirmation. "You can distinguish your own thoughts from the thoughts of others—yes?"

"Yes," she answered. "Definitely."

He smiled. "Well—it is the same with your feelings, except . . . ." He paused.

"Except?"

"When we are feeling something similar, my feelings and yours seem to come together to a certain extent; they overlap and feel stronger. It's," he paused, "_nice_ to not feel things alone."

"Oh," she said, not knowing what else to say. She did know that she'd be adding that to the list of things she needed to contemplate as she considered the vampire bond. "I'll be ready to go in a few minutes."

Eric nodded as Sookie rinsed out her bowl and spoon and put them into the dishwasher. She hated starting a load for only a couple of dishes, but it was probably safer than way. After quickly brushing her teeth and hair, Sookie put on some deodorant and fresh clothing. Like the day before, she went for comfort—opting for jeans and a T-shirt. She didn't feel cold that morning, so she packed her hoodie, along with her dirty clothing and toiletries, into her suitcase before looking around the room. Eric had glamoured the Aldridges to wash all the used linens and to clean the main floor very thoroughly so that nothing of her would be found—not a single fingerprint nor a loose strand of brown hair—not that brown hair would be suspicious since Diane also had that color.

Eric had told Sookie that vampires generally didn't count on fingerprints or DNA for tracking purposes since they relied on their senses, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She was just wondering whether she'd left any stray hairs on the bed in the basement when Eric walked into the bedroom. He was carrying the sheets from downstairs.

"I will quickly make up the bed down there with the extra sheets so that my scent is on them," he said.

He dumped the used sheets onto Sookie's bed, knowing that the glamoured couple would clean them too—since they were on the main floor of the house.

"Okay, I'll finish loading the car," she said.

After going to the bathroom, Sookie took her suitcase and the quilt to the car. Eric had already loaded the cooler and the other food, as well as the rest of their supplies. Her coffee, the map, and the codes she would need for the day were already in the car as well. Next, Sookie walked through the house one more time, making sure that she wasn't forgetting anything before returning to the kitchen to wait for Eric.

"The potion you put on yesterday should last until you shower in Fredericksburg," Eric said. "Be sure to refresh it right after you do, however."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Drive to the end of the block and then take a left," Eric instructed, pointing in the direction he wanted her to go. "Then drive straight for six blocks—to the corner of Victoria and Harbor. I will meet you there ten minutes after I make a few passes of the neighborhood and make sure that your scent cannot be picked up at all in this house. If Octavia's potion is working correctly, there will be no trace and no trail, but there is no need to take a chance. Plus, Victor will expect for my scent to be present around the area a bit, so I intend to leave it where I can."

Sookie nodded and got into the car as Eric pushed the button to open the garage door. It was still half an hour until dawn, and the only sign of life on the street was someone delivering newspapers. After using her telepathy, to double check that all was safe, Sookie pulled the car out of the garage and then went in the direction Eric had pointed. She made a left turn at the end of the block and then drove for six others before pulling to the side of the street and turning off the headlights.

She was a little surprised that she didn't feel the distance from Eric acutely, but—then again—being able to rest next to him had gone a long way to making her feel better—"secure" somehow. She knew that that was because of the Fae bond requiring their closeness, but it was also because of Eric. The vampire seemed more relaxed this morning. She wondered if being close had helped him as much as it had helped her.

She thought so. She hoped so.

She also wondered if "feeding" the bond—as they'd done that night by resting together—would allow them to be more relaxed when they were not in the same room or touching each other. That seemed to be the case, but she wanted to talk with Eric about it—to see what he thought. If that was the case, however, it would certainly go a long way toward convincing her that forming a vampire bond was the way to go.

Ten minutes after she had parked, Eric landed in front of the car. Sookie felt her heart stop for a moment—not out of fear, but because Eric's beauty in that moment was so striking. To her, he literally glowed, and with his windswept hair, he looked like a Nordic god personified. Eric looked around quickly and then motioned for her to get out of the vehicle.

"Everything okay?" she asked in a whisper, even as she tried to get her emotions in check.

"Yes," he returned at a low volume. "I'm sure that my own scent is now well-established in the area, and once you had left the house, I couldn't smell any trace of you."

"But you can smell me now?" Sookie asked.

Eric nodded. "Yes. The range seems to be about fifteen feet, but Octavia's potion quite literally works to eliminate all traces of your scent beyond that distance."

"Good to know," Sookie breathed out. "So someone would have to be pretty close to pick up our scent when we're wearing the potion," she commented.

"Yes, and once we are out of range, there is no way to track us because the scent disappears. It is quite the ingenious potion," he relayed.

Eric opened the hatchback and then put in the code to open his built-in coffin. He took the potion from his jacket pocket and carefully applied a few drops to his forehead.

After he recapped and then stowed the potion into his duffel bag, he turned to Sookie. "I will see you at nightfall, little one."

She smiled at the use of the nickname. "Okay, big one."

"Sookie?" he said with a little uncertainty in his voice.

"Yes?" she responded.

"I want you to know something."

"Yes?" she repeated.

"I rest better when you are near me too," he confessed. "I'm glad I do not have to try to sleep without you near me today. And you need never apologize for wanting the same."

Sookie smiled, knowing that Eric was trying to make her feel better about the fact that she'd been unable to sleep until she was next to him. She also understood well what that confession was costing him.

"Thank you—for telling me," she said.

He bent down and kissed the top of her head. "I will have the Bluetooth in. You can speak with me until I fall into my day-death. And I have on the bracelet too," he said, indicating the device that could inject him with silver if she needed to awaken him in an emergency.

She nodded.

"Be safe, Sookie," he added with another gentle kiss to her forehead.

Sookie didn't have a chance to respond before he gracefully put himself into his coffin. She leaned over and looked inside, but could see only the under-soles of his shoes as the panel closed behind him. She chuckled at the sight and then closed the hatchback door before quickly getting into the car. The first thing she did was put on the Bluetooth.

"Okay in there?" she asked as she started the engine.

"Peachy," he responded. His voice seemed to echo a bit, but she could still distinguish the smile in it.

She navigated onto the street that would take her to Interstate 10. "I suppose there are no claustrophobic vampires—huh?" she asked. "The thought of bein' in that box makes my skin crawl."

He chuckled. "No—I suppose not. Or—if they are claustrophobic—they grow out of it quickly."

"Were you scared of anything like that when you were a human?" she asked.

"You mean phobias?"

"Yeah," she answered. "Like heights? Or spiders? Or the dark?"

"Hmmm," he contemplated. "I don't believe so. There were things that I _did_ fear, but the fears were not like phobias."

"I used to be deathly afraid of snakes," Sookie admitted.

"Well, poisonous snakes should be avoided," he said reasonably.

"True," she responded.

"Why were you frightened of snakes?" he asked.

She sighed. "I used to have the same nightmare over and over that a water moccasin was chasing me. It was based on a memory though."

"What memory?"

"When I was about four or five years old, Jason and I were playing in the creek near Gran's house when a moccasin came right up to me; I even saw it hiss like it was going to strike me. They have white mouths—you know?"

"Yes," Eric commented. "They are commonly referred to as cottonmouths, I believe."

"Yeah. Gran told me later that she'd never seen one before in the creek on our property, and we never saw one after that either. I just remember thinking the snake was gonna kill me."

"What happened?" Eric asked.

"The snake—it seemed to just stop, mid-strike. I never knew why at the time, but I can remember Grandpa Earl—uh Fintan—picking me up out of the water right after that."

"You think he stopped the snake from biting you?"

Sookie sighed. "Yeah. Now that I know he was part fairy, it makes sense. Maybe he hit it with fairy light or something. Grandpa pullin' me out of the creek is one of the last things I can remember about him. I think he disappeared not long after that."

"Sookie?" Eric said seriously.

"Yeah?"

"_Don't_," he ordered.

"Don't what?" she asked somewhat resignedly.

"Don't do what you are about to do," he said. "You are looking for ways to blame yourself for your grandfather being taken by the Fae. You are envisioning a scenario where your grandfather was forced to use his magic because of you and that snake. You are thinking that was the reason why Niall's enemies found him. And you are taking responsibility for his death when it doesn't belong to you."

"Doesn't it?" she asked as she saw the sun's first rays beginning to penetrate through the darkness in her rearview mirror. She knew that Eric would be falling asleep any minute.

"You cannot know why Fintan was found by the others. And even if the scenario you are now imagining is the truth, it is still not your fault."

"You're right," Sookie said.

"Sookie?"

"Eric?"

"You're lying to me. You _don't_ think I'm right."

"It's morning," she said softly. "You should sleep."

"Not until you understand."

"Understand what?"

"That you cannot continue to blame yourself for everything negative that happens around you. The deaths of your parents were not your fault. They were killed by enemies of Niall, and it was just luck that you were not with them in that car. Your gran didn't die because of you either. She was killed by a deranged murderer."

"Who was looking to kill me," Sookie said.

"Sookie, do you believe your grandmother would want you to be dead in her place?"

She sniffled. "No."

"Sookie, I know that you would gladly exchange yourself for any of your family members, but I am glad _you_ are here and are still alive."

"You are?"

"Yes. And it is time that you honor the people you love by protecting yourself with as much fierceness as you try to protect them. And that is not just about protecting yourself from harm, little one. It is about protecting," he paused, "the inner part of yourself—your heart."

"I'll try," Sookie said, brushing a tear from her eye. "But you need to go to sleep before I really start cryin'—okay? Crying and driving don't mix."

"Okay," he relented, "but think about what I have said."

"I will," she promised as she placed her right hand flat over the passenger's seat. "Have a good sleep, Eric."

"I will see you soon, little one," Eric said before dying for the day.

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**A/N: Many thanks for the wonderful reviews and comments I got for the last chapter! I'm so glad that so many of you are still enjoying this story. I had the funniest PM this morning (I won't name names, however.) Basically the person said that she was "surprised" that she was liking this story so much considering that we are quite far in and Eric and Sookie haven't had sex. LOL. She went on to say that she "hadn't even noticed" b/c she thought the love story was developing well. Anyway-I have one word for her AND the rest of you: SOON. **

**I hope that many of you will join me on my blog later for the "live" viewing/rant/drink-fest during tonight's episode. I know that many of you have given up watching, and I can definitely understand that. But—for those of you still willing to deal with the pain HBO is inflicting upon us—I hope you'll join me!**

**Up Next: Sookie will ****actually**** be telling us about that woven dream. Again, so sorry about my own wires getting crossed. I must be getting old. **

**Remember to check out the artwork by Seph on my blog (californiakat1564. wordpress. com). **


	13. Chapter 13: Intended, Unintended

A/N: This chapter includes references to the abuse perpetrated against Sookie by Uncle Bartlett. It is not overly graphic; however, be cautioned.

Also, I need to issue a Kleenex warning. I needed a few to get through this chapter.

**Chapter 13: Intended, Unintended **

"_**Before the throne of the Almighty, man will be judged not by his acts but by his intentions. For God alone reads our hearts."—Mahatma Gandhi**_

**Last Time:** _"Sookie, I know that you would gladly exchange yourself for any of your family members, but I am glad you are here and are still alive."_

_ "You are?"_

_ "Yes. And it is time that you honor the people you love by protecting yourself with as much fierceness as you try to protect them. And that is not just about protecting yourself from harm, little one. It is about protecting," he paused, "the inner part of yourself—your heart."_

_ "I'll try," Sookie said, brushing a tear from her eye. "But you need to go to sleep before I really start cryin'—okay? Crying and driving don't mix."_

_ "Okay," he relented, "but think about what I have said."_

_ "I will," she promised as she placed her right hand flat over the passenger's seat. "Have a good sleep, Eric."_

_ "I will see you soon, little one," Eric said before dying for the day._

* * *

Sookie kept her promise to Eric as she thought about the events in her life that had led her to where she was.

"You're right, Eric," she sighed, looking at the empty passenger seat.

Her "default" setting _was_ to blame herself. She'd been conditioned to do that—after all. Her mother had blamed her for most—if not all—of the problems in their family.

When her parents had been killed, Sookie had blamed herself. After all, the night they'd died, they'd been trying to get away from her. How could she not blame herself?

When Uncle Bartlett had touched her inappropriately, his very thoughts had blamed her. How could she not blame herself for that too? She was too young—too innocent—to know better.

For as long as she could remember, friends and family members alike had blamed her when she heard their thoughts—as if she could do anything to keep them out. But Sookie still took on the blame, and she had pushed herself to always be better—to better cover up the part of herself that made her "abnormal."

The number of times she'd failed had eaten at her every single day of her life—until the days she'd spent with Eric in Slidell.

Only there had she felt peace.

Sookie sighed. Yes—when things went wrong, her automatic response was to point a blaming finger inward. A tear fell from her eye. The moment Gran had died, she had blamed herself. And then Jason's thoughts had screamed out similar blaming.

Truth be told, she'd also been blaming herself for Bill being able to so easily take advantage of her and get his blood into her. If she'd just not been so naïve, then she would have seen through him. If she'd not been so weak and desperate for any kind of affection, she would have "felt" the influence of his blood in her. Maybe—if she would have been smarter and _better_—Gran would still be alive.

"So much blame," Sookie said softly.

She couldn't help but to wonder if she would ever get to the point that she didn't blame herself for the deaths which had occurred around her—at least a little. She knew that she was not in control of most of the things that had happened, and it was useless to wish that she'd been born without the Fae spark or her telepathy—even though she'd certainly never wanted those things.

But the truth was that those things—the same things that had made her feel so ostracized from everyone else—were also the root of so much harm to the people she'd loved most.

Her mom's unhappiness and drinking had stemmed from Sookie being "abnormal," and—yes—maybe her mom _should_ have accepted her child any way she came, but how could Sookie blame her mother for her wish to have a normal daughter.

Apparently, her parents' deaths had been carried out by fairies that Sookie certainly hadn't meant to attract. But those murderers were in the human realm for only one thing: to kill _her_. She felt another tear running down her cheek as she thought about her dad—so kind and always trying to take care of his family the best way he knew how. He was the one who would come into her room at night to try to comfort her when she'd had nightmares. He would check the room for snakes because she was scared. And then he would sit with her for hours so that she could sleep. But his mind had not worried about snakes. His mind had worried about the fact that he felt his beloved wife crumbling because of the daughter he also loved so much. He'd worried more and more that he would have to choose between them. Near the time of her parents' deaths, Sookie knew from her parents' minds that her mom had nearly convinced her dad that the best place for her would be an institution where doctors could "help" her. It's what her mother sincerely thought would be best for Sookie—and for the whole family.

Sookie knew _intellectually_ that none of the strife in her family had been _intentionally_ caused by her. But she was also acutely aware of the fact that unintentional harm could cause just as much damage as intentional harm. For as long as she could remember, she had tried to hide her telepathy so that she wouldn't cause that harm. But it had still negatively affected every relationship she'd ever had.

Tara had once spent almost a year not talking to her because Sookie had "heard" that Lettie-Mae hit her and had told Gran, who—of course—had confronted Lettie-Mae, who—of course—had beaten Tara more. Gran had then called the police in to check on the situation, but they couldn't prove anything. In fact, not wanting to be sent to an orphanage, Tara had lied to Sheriff Dearborn and had claimed that her bruises had come from a fight she'd been in at school. Sookie and Tara had been nine when that happened. Sookie had been trying to protect her friend, but all her "help" had managed to do was to make Lettie-Mae even more violent. After Tara finally started talking to her again, Sookie pretended not to "hear" the bad things in Tara's head, though she made sure she invited Tara over a lot. After that, Tara stayed at Gran's almost more than at her own home, but she'd been as "safe" as Sookie could make her.

Lafayette had spent a long time avoiding Sookie as well. Because of her gift, she was the first person to learn that Lafayette was gay, but he wasn't ready for others to know yet. He could tell that she had "heard" his secret because he'd been fantasizing—rather explicitly—about Jason, and she'd been unable to hide her surprise. He'd told her to mind her own fucking business and to keep her damned mouth shut! Of course, Sookie had done just that, but Lafayette had looked at her as if she'd betrayed him nonetheless. Sookie had been ten years old at the time. It wasn't until Lafayette felt comfortable enough coming out and being himself publically that he'd once again welcomed Sookie into his life.

As the miles drifted behind her, Sookie thought of countless examples when her telepathy had been the root of unintentional harm to others.

"So much blame," she said aloud again.

Judgment and fear—these were the things that Sookie's telepathy had brought to her from the people she'd most loved. Or—if she was lucky—it was their pity that she would earn because of her curse.

Until Bill. He hadn't shunned her for her telepathy. He'd come to her with an offer of fake love _because_ of her telepathy. And—just like that—her curse had become a commodity that vampires wanted to use.

"Even you saw me first as an asset," she whispered, patting the passenger seat.

She sighed as she thought about the men who had shown interest in her romantically. With the tie to Bill gone, she knew that the euphoria she'd often felt with him had been fueled by his blood and his manipulation of her feelings. Had she had any experience with falling in love before Bill came into her life, she might have understood that his love wasn't real. But she'd been naïve—ignorant.

She blinked away a tear, recognizing once again that she was blaming her own deficiencies for Bill's duplicity. She shook her head.

She wondered if she could have found happiness if she'd have tried a relationship with Sam. After all, it was harder for her to "hear" him. But even though she'd sensed that Sam had wanted to pursue her, she'd not encouraged him. She hadn't wanted to ruin the best job she'd ever had by getting involved with her boss. Plus, she _did_ "hear" him, especially when he touched her. Moreover, the harsh truth was that she and Sam could have never worked out because he had hidden himself from her. She'd trusted him with her own secret. He'd known that she felt different because of her "curse"—isolated and alone. Yet he'd never given her an equal amount of trust—or fidelity with another "different" individual.

And Sookie was tired of being left in the dark about everything. Even her family—even her name—was a lie.

She thought again about her "relationship" with Bill. Looking at it with open eyes and her _own_ thoughts, she recognized that they'd had one fight after another during their short relationship. And they had broken up more than once.

Yet she'd continued to be drawn to him like a moth to the flame. While she would question his behavior almost constantly during the day, she would rarely have similar thoughts at night—unless something very disturbing had happened.

After she'd met Malcolm and his crew at Bill's home, she'd been scared to death of Bill, who had sat in a corner of the room and had watched his vampire "friends" practically molest her. He'd also almost drunk from their human—and would have if she'd not warned him of the Hep-D. She thought of all the times she'd gone against her own common sense and reason to forgive him and to believe in him. At the time, she'd thought that it was because she loved him—because she "knew" him deep down inside. Now she understood that it was Bill manipulating the blood of a girl so desperate to have someone to love that she couldn't question why she was falling for him so quickly and so obsessively. She thought about the dreams that she'd had of Bill—both during the daytime and at night. They'd all been disturbing in one way or another, yet she'd never questioned them.

But every single one of them had ratcheted up her fear—even the one she'd had of him _before_ she'd had his blood. In that one, she'd gone down to meet him in her yard. He'd snuck up on her and, then, without a word, he'd started to undress. When she'd remarked that she couldn't believe that they were about to have sex, he'd lowered his fangs. She would never forget his words, "Who said anything about sex?"

She'd woken up scared of him—scared to death.

Her second dream about Bill had been _after_ she'd had his blood. She'd gone to him—almost begging him to take her virginity. Now, she understood well why fear and lust had been so prevalent in that dream. Hell—she'd even admitted to being scared to death of him. So why had she just "known" that he was _the one_ she should "give herself" to?

She scoffed. His blood.

Another of her blood-influenced dreams had found Bill making her breakfast and then going up in a ball of flame. She'd been so frightened of losing him that she'd been even more pliable to his influence after that.

Fear had been one of the emotions she'd _never_ felt in her dreams of Eric, and—that—more than anything else, told the story of the differences between the vampires.

She placed her hand, once again, onto the passenger seat.

"I wonder what you would say if I told you," she whispered, as she turned her thoughts to another dream she'd had because of Bill—a dream that she now knew was the first woven dream he'd sent her.

She'd had it on the worst day of her life—the day of Gran's funeral. She'd just lost the only person who had ever truly accepted her—the _only_ one. Her brother outwardly blamed her for Gran's death. And her friends were inwardly thinking that she was responsible—at least, partially—too. And—of course—pretty much everyone at Gran's funeral blamed her as well. She would never forget their thoughts. They all centered on one major idea: If not for "the freak," Adele would be alive. And then Uncle Bartlett had arrived—right before Sookie had been called up to speak. All that she'd been able to think about was that the young man pushing his wheelchair seemed _very_ young indeed. And then Jason had told her that he'd invited their uncle. And then she'd heard Uncle Bartlett's twisted thoughts—for the first time in almost twenty years. He'd been thinking about how it was a shame that "little girls" had to grow up.

Yes—that was the worst day of her life. And—unbeknownst to her—Bill had already sent her a woven dream, and all that she'd needed to do to activate it was to fall asleep.

The day had driven her to her knees—figuratively and literally. And, after she'd finished off the pecan pie—the last thing her grandmother had made—she'd lain down.

And she'd slept.

Her dream had begun with Uncle Bartlett just staring at her from the chair he used to sit in when he was "visiting," a chair that was still in the living room—though Sookie never sat in it. Understandably, Sookie had been frightened in her dream. Uncle Bartlett had crooked his finger for her, signaling that he wanted her to come and sit on his lap. Sookie had felt herself shaking her head—even in her sleep—but she'd not been able to wake herself up.

And then Uncle Bartlett had changed and was suddenly Bill. That alteration had disturbed her even more than the pedophile who had been gawking at her, especially since Bill was also sitting in the chair Uncle Bartlett had been in.

Sookie shivered and gripped the steering wheel tighter. Her fears in the dream had been replaced by lust for Bill, and—suddenly—the only thing she'd wanted to do was to give herself to Bill. The juxtaposition of the fear and shame over Bartlett and the lust over Bill had finally shaken Sookie out of her sleep. At the time, she'd thought she was sick for having such a dream—deranged—and her uncle's voice had rung out at her from her memories.

"_You like me touching you_. _I know you like it_," her uncle would coo as he'd touched her legs and her undeveloped breasts. "_You know you like sitting on Uncle Barlett's lap and playing. You know I only touch you because you want me to._"

When she'd woken up from her dream, the only thing that she could imagine that would take away that voice—as well as her own self-loathing over Gran's death—was Bill. She'd felt desperate to go to him as soon as the sun set. She'd felt the intense need to give him her body, knowing that he would make her feel better and erase the things that Uncle Bartlett had said—and done—to her. She just knew that Bill would be able to take away the fear of sex that she had always had because of Uncle Bartlett's thoughts about her—that Bill would make sex "pure" because he loved her.

She had been shaking—from both fear and desire—as she'd found the nightgown that would make her look most like the "pure" bride she felt that she desperately _needed_ to be for Bill. She'd not "thought" about what she was doing as she'd taken the garment from Gran's dresser. She _couldn't_ "think" about it. She could only prepare to give herself to Bill.

No—to _offer_ herself.

She'd been so afraid of what would happen if she didn't.

So desperately afraid.

And, as soon as the sun had set, she had offered herself. She'd run through the graveyard to Bill as if her body and soul were on fire. She'd not even spared a look toward the freshly shoveled dirt on top of Gran's grave.

Now, Sookie could recognize that her actions that day had been because of a woven dream sent by Bill. As soon as she'd been strong enough to think things through following the severing spell, she'd known that the woven dream that had propelled her down the Interstate from Slidell to Shreveport wasn't the first she'd experienced. But she hadn't been able to tell Eric about her first woven dream—not even during their perfect week as they'd shared their histories with each other. Of _that_ night—of the night Bill had taken her virginity—she'd been too ashamed.

Rationally, Sookie recognized that her feelings of shame were probably akin to what a rape victim might feel. After all, through the dream and through his blood, Bill had stripped Sookie of her own free will, even as he'd stripped her of her virginal white nightgown. However, the guilt and the shame regarding that night still lingered in Sookie.

And then there were the unrelenting questions that she pummeled herself with—over and over again.

Could she have done anything differently? Could have she stopped Bill from manipulating her? Why did she have to be so defective? Why did she have to be the perfect target for Bill?"

Once more, she sighed and placed her hand back onto the passenger seat.

"I know what you would say," she said with a tiny smile as she thought of Eric's beautiful face underneath the seat cushion. "You would tell me that none of that was my fault—just as none of my family's deaths were my fault." She sighed again. "Maybe you're right," she added to the sleeping vampire. "I suppose I'll have to keep working on really getting myself to believe it though. But because of you," she paused, "I think that—maybe—I'm on my way."

She patted the seat. "Thank you, Eric."

Sookie was silent for a few minutes as she caressed the soft leather of the seat. "I'm scared," she admitted. "I'm so scared that the Fae bond has taken away my free will again. And—I'm especially scared that it's taken away _yours_." A tear fell from her eye. "I don't want to unintentionally rape you, Eric," she whispered. "And—if we made love because of the Fae bond, wouldn't I be doing just that?"

She shook her head. "I know you wanted to have sex with me before that—to _fuck_ me," she said, reddening even as she called the physical act of sex by its most common vernacular name. "But if we just," she paused, "fucked, it would hurt me. And if we made love, how could I be sure that I wasn't taking that from you—against your will?"

She wiped away a tear and continued. "Oh, Eric—I never want to take anything else from you. If I did that," she paused, "then I would truly become the monster most people always thought I was."

She brushed away another tear and took a long ragged breath before straightening her posture and glanced into the rearview mirror.

She laughed ruefully, knowing that—if she were in a movie—this would be the part when she would have an epiphany about her predicament and a moment of self-forgiveness. But neither of those things happened. Another tear fell—this one because of self-pity.

"Get ahold of your, Sookie!" she chastised herself. "You still have two hours left to drive, and—like you told Eric, cryin' and drivin' don't mix." She took another deep breath and turned on the radio.

She shuffled through the channels for a while before settling on a baseball game. The commentary was just enough to keep her interested and—more importantly—to keep her from sinking back into her thoughts.

She needed a break.

So she took one.

* * *

Sookie stopped only once on the drive from Houston to Fredericksburg. She chose another small café, and she bought some black bean chili to go, knowing that she'd be at her destination in an hour.

She didn't see a camera in the café, but she kept her head down anyway.

The rest of the way to the safe house, she worked on using her telepathy as she drove. She stretched out her gift to the others on the highway, getting short snippets of thoughts from them as if she were scrolling through Jason's plethora of channels on his satellite television.

And, after getting Eric safely into the garage at Fredericksburg, she stretched out her telepathy even more—pushing herself to go further than she ever had before. There were a lot of people close by since the neighborhood was closely packed with apartments. And there was even a school within her range, and—being a Wednesday around lunchtime, the building was bustling. But she didn't let this stop her from practicing her skill—despite the headache it generated. She made herself pause at each mind, confirming that no one had any thoughts that indicated that he or she was a danger to the vampire sleeping in the car.

That almost-hour-long task completed, she grabbed the chili she'd bought and took it inside, deciding that she would eat before doing anything else. She hated eating out of Styrofoam containers, so she transferred her meal into a bowl and warmed it in the microwave.

After her meal, she took her suitcase into the only furnished bedroom. She looked around the duplex, wondering where Eric would sleep since none of the few rooms in the house looked light-tight. Maybe they'd be leaving before he needed to sleep again.

After once more testing the immediate area with her telepathy, she unloaded the cooler and brought in the sturdy cloth grocery bag that was serving as a kind of traveling pantry for her. After that, she took a quick shower. Eric had said that she should reapply the potion immediately, so after she dried off, she reapplied it and then put on a comfortable-looking maxi dress that Amelia had gotten for her.

And then she returned to the car. It was too warm to wrap up in the quilt, so she used it as her pillow.

As she closed her eyes, her mind was invaded by more questions about Bill and her own uncertainties about herself. She wished that she could trace all of her self-doubts back to a moment in time that she could somehow move beyond. She'd talked to Eric about her first memory and wondered if that was where all of her pain originated from. And—if it was—how could she ever overcome it? Most of her memories were unpleasant in some way, and almost all of the good ones had occurred as she'd been stifling her telepathy with all of her might. She wondered if there would be anything left of her if she tried to move beyond her pain.

Was that why she couldn't seem to do it? Was she afraid that she would disappear if all of her pain suddenly went away?

During the previous week, she'd actually had hope that there _would_ be something left—some stronger Sookie that she'd caught glimpses of in the mirror, but had never actually met. Eric had seemed to "love" _that_ Sookie and had encouraged her to seek her out. And the miracle that Sookie had found was that Eric had been "pointing" right at her—the _her_ that was before him.

Not some idealized or "super" version of herself. Just her.

Yes—it had felt like a miracle.

Indeed, Sookie had begun to imagine that she was worthy of being accepted just the way she was—that she didn't have to pretend or to change in order to be loved. Even Bill—with all his acting and the manipulation of her blood—had always made her feel like she needed to change. He hadn't liked her moments of independence. He hadn't wanted her to question anything about him—or herself.

Eric hadn't minded Sookie's independence; if anything, he'd seemed attracted to her for the very things Bill had tried to quell. Of course, now Sookie knew that Eric had been hiding the fact that she was a fairy during their time in Slidell. And he'd contacted Niall because he'd wanted for her to learn how to harness her light power into a weapon that could help him to defeat Russell. Did that mean that Eric didn't really want her as she was—that he wanted her to change into "Sookie, the vampire slayer?" Or had it just been the Fae bond which had made him _seem_ to like her in the first place?

Questions she had no answers for continued to swirl around her head as she sat up and brushed her fingers through her still-damp hair.

She sighed. She missed Eric's fingers in her hair.

God—how she missed his gentle touch!

She missed the care he'd always taken in braiding her hair. She missed the way he would talk freely with her as he wound the braid. She missed their baths together—the intimacy that even most lovers never found.

She sighed. She felt drained from her irregular sleep during the past several days and from the weight of her thoughts during her drive, as well as her telepathic exercise. But she was almost afraid to sleep—afraid that if she did, someone might hurt the vampire in her charge.

She did another sweep with her telepathy, being as thorough as she could. And then she kept her shields down—a white noise of thoughts. She let herself get used to that cacophony, and she prayed to God that she would hear any changes in the noise within her mind. And—then—she fell asleep.

* * *

_ "Hi," she whispered._

_ "Hello," he said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear._

_ "Did Eric send you?" she asked._

_ "No. Would you like me to go?" he returned. _

_ She shook her head. _

_ "Good," he said, looking around them. "As a vampire, I cannot dream. It is odd to be inside of one of your dreams."_

_ "Will you remember this when you wake up? I mean—will the _real_ Eric remember?"_

_ The Eric in Sookie's dream shook his head. "No. I am his blood. You brought me into your dream, and I am here for you—not for him."_

_ She nodded and sighed._

_ There was a moment of silence between them. _

_ "Every time you've been in one of my dreams—except for the one Bill wove—there's been a bed," she chuckled as she looked at her surroundings and recognized that they were in their bed in Slidell._

_ He smirked. _

_ She shook her head fondly. "It's weird though; I've never really felt lust in my dreams about you—except maybe the first one—but even that wasn't the kind of lust I figured Eric would send."_

_ He shrugged. "Perhaps the Fae bond affected the dreams somehow."_

_ "Maybe." Sookie sighed. _

_ Again, there were several moments of silence between them. _

_ "I went to sleep in the car again," she confessed. _

_ Eric just nodded and drew her into his arms. "It is okay to sleep, Sookie. It is okay to enjoy being with me—and with him. He enjoys it too. Do not begrudge yourself comfort."_

_ "Are you sure he likes it too?" she asked._

_ "Yes. I am his blood. I am certain."_

_ "And everything's about the blood?"_

_ He didn't answer her question directly. "He wants to be close to you; I want to be close to you."_

_ "Because of the Fae bond," she said resignedly._

_ "There is more to it. At least, I think there is. Anyway, the Fae bond is a part of us all now."_

_ "I get the impression that your counterpart wants to learn how to get around the bond so that it doesn't govern how we are with each other."_

_ "He doesn't like feeling out of control." _

_ Sookie cringed a little. "I sometimes wonder what it would feel like to be _in_ control. I don't think I've ever felt in control—not of my telepathy, not of my life. Not of anything."_

_ "Maybe he can help you gain what you have been missing. Maybe you can help him reconcile the fact that sometimes the things we cannot control are the _best_ things we ever have."_

_ "You don't sound like yourself," she said._

_ "I am as much what _you_ need him to be as I am him." _

_ "So you aren't real?"_

_ "No. I'm sorry. I'm not. I am just a dream, but I do carry a part of him. Perhaps, it is the part you need and the part he cannot show you."_

_ "There are things that I haven't shared with him either," she admitted. "Things I'm ashamed of." _

_ She curled into her dream Eric and put her head onto his comfortable shoulder. _

_ She sighed. "But I don't wanna think about those things right now."_

_ "Then don't," he answered simply. "Rest."_

* * *

**A/N: First of all, thanks for all the wonderful comments about the last chapter. I loved reading all of them!**

**This chapter—I'll admit—was difficult for me to write, and I rewrote it several times before I felt like I was properly conveying this Sookie's raw emotions: her turmoil, fear, and strength. In this story, Sookie's first sexual experience really is "rape" in my reimagining of the Bill character. And it was difficult to try to convey Sookie as both victim and survivor, which is what I see her as. It took a lot of drafts and tears to get this chapter to where it is. I hope that I did the subject matter justice. And I hope I did this Sookie justice. Unlike her counterpart in the show, this is a questioning and thoughtful Sookie. And this is a Sookie who is trying her best to deal with the abuse she's had to face. She doesn't want to—even inadvertently—do similar harm to Eric. I think that this is the moment that we see that she truly loves Eric—Fae bond or no (though she's not ready to admit it). And we also see her immense strength as she tries to "push" her gift to protect him. I have to say that—of all my Sookies—this is my favorite. She's vulnerable, but she doesn't use that vulnerability not to move on and grow.**

**Anyway—enough rambling.**

**I'll be moving to _Touch the Flame_ again, so I hope you will join me in about a week for more of this story.**

**Next up: Eric contacts a familiar ally in Texas.**

**Until then,**

**Kat**

**P.S. You probably know by now that I love Sephrenia. She's become an amazing friend in the virtual world of my fanfiction life, and she makes the banners for my stories (esp. for my WordPress site). For this chapter, she has outdone herself. I hope that you will check out her artwork on my blog—even if you don't generally do so. Her were is truly amazing!**

**californiakat1564. wordpress. com**


	14. Chapter 14: Friends in Texas

**Chapter 14: Friends in Texas **

**Last time:**_ Sookie cringed a little. "I sometimes wonder what it would feel like to be _in_ control. I don't think I've ever felt in control—not of my telepathy, not of my life. Not of anything."_

_ "Maybe he can help you gain what you have been missing. Maybe you can help him reconcile the fact that sometimes the things we cannot control are the _best_ things we ever have."_

_ "You don't sound like yourself," she said._

_ "I am as much what _you_ need him to be as I am him." _

_ "So you aren't real?"_

_ "No. I'm sorry. I'm not. I am just a dream, but I do carry a part of him. Perhaps, it is the part you need and the part he cannot show you."_

_ "There are things that I haven't shared with him either," she admitted. "Things I'm ashamed of." _

_ She curled into her dream Eric and put her head onto his comfortable shoulder. _

_ She sighed. "But I don't wanna think about those things right now."_

_ "Then don't," he answered simply. "Rest."_

* * *

**[Two evenings later, Fort Stockton, Texas] **

Eric awakened to the familiar scent of Sookie. She was very close, and from her even breathing, he knew that she was asleep in the back seat of the car again—just as he'd found her the night before. She'd seemed self-conscious that he "caught" her sleeping close to him, but he'd made clear to her that it was fine—nothing that required embarrassment or shame on her part. After sundown, he quietly got out of the car and got his duffle bag and his laptop.

He quickly took a shower and applied some of the potion. By the time he was done, Sookie was awake and in the kitchen, preparing herself a meal.

"How was the drive?" he asked.

"Not a lot to see and not a lot of traffic, but it was nice," she said of their trip from Fredericksburg to Fort Stockton, Texas."

"Well?" he asked with a smile. "What do you think?"

"I love it!" she said excitedly, gesturing toward the backyard.

Eric had told Sookie that she would get to take the next day off from driving. And he could already tell that she'd gotten some sun.

"Your skin is slightly darker," he observed. "Did you enjoy the pool?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "I sunbathed for about an hour and waded around in the pool a bit."

"Was the water warm enough?" the vampire asked. He knew that the nights in the desert could get cool, but—in September—daytime temperatures were hopefully hot enough to keep the temperature of the water warm.

Sookie nodded. "Yes. It was nice. Perfect."

Eric smiled. "Good. Can you hear the neighbor?"

Sookie chuckled. "Barely." Unlike the Fredericksburg house, which had been in a very crowded neighborhood, their nearest neighbor in the Fort Stockton home was more than a mile away, and even with the practice she'd done to increase her range, she could barely make him out. "This place is pretty perfect for me—as a 'resting' place, I mean."

Eric nodded. "I'm glad. I've always liked this particular home too, though it is the opposite of where I grew up—as far as weather and landscape go."

Sookie grinned. "I bet. I'd never seen a real desert before today. I can't believe all the cactuses in your yard!"

"Did you learn anything new today?" Eric asked, gesturing toward the Fae book on the kitchen counter.

She smiled uncertainly and bit her lip. "Yeah. Wanna see?"

He nodded. "Of course. If you want to show," he added with a smirk.

She smiled a little wider and wiped off her hands. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. Then, she extended her hands, palms up, and opened her eyes to stare at them.

Eric watched with awe as small balls of white light pooled in her hands.

"I learned how to call up my light today," she smiled, even as she brought her palms together. The light seemed to reabsorb into her.

"How do you do it?" he asked.

She blushed a little, but tried to hide it by going back to her cooking. "It's connected to my emotions, so I have to call on a feeling to get it to work."

Noticing Sookie's blush—but choosing to ignore it because she was obviously trying to conceal it—Eric didn't ask what emotion she used to create the light. Instead, he focused on the success of her practice. "This is good," he remarked.

She smiled, but then frowned a little. "I think I killed a cactus though—when I shot it."

He chuckled. "There are plenty to go around. And remember, one of the reasons we are staying here for an extra day is to give you the opportunity to practice a bit before you have your meeting with your fairy cousin."

She nodded. "I'll have to show you what I can do later."

"I look forward to it." He looked at her seriously. "Do you want to hear this?" he asked holding his phone out for her to see.

Immediately nervous, Sookie turned off the stove burner. "Yeah. But will she be able to hear me—my breathing?"

"I don't think so. Most vampires could not hear just your breathing over the phone. And even if she did, she would likely think that I was feeding off of a glamoured human."

"Okay, but let's go into the living room, and I'll sit across the room from the phone with this over my mouth," she added, holding up a hand towel.

Eric smiled and nodded at her caution and then led Sookie to the living room, which was quite large. In fact, the whole ranch style home was big.

"Have you already contacted Mr. Cataliades?" Sookie asked.

"Yes, I texted him after I rose as I waited for the sun to set. Octavia has already been to the Houston home and found no trace of you. Cataliades is going to contact Russell sometime in the early morning hours so that he will not be able to make it to Texas before sunrise. By the time he arrives tomorrow, he and Victor will be in for a bit of a surprise if we have our way."

Sookie nodded.

"Ready?" Eric asked.

"Yep," she said, settling into a chair in the corner of the room.

Eric dialed and put the phone on speaker.

"Yes?" a woman with a Latina accent answered.

"Isabel," Eric said. "Is this a secure line?"

"Of course," the vampiress responded smoothly. "Well—if it isn't Eric Northman—wanted fugitive. It is _surprising_ to hear from you." There was amusement in her voice. "You are in _much_ trouble with the Authority."

"It was not I who killed the Magister," Eric said evenly.

"Hmm," she sounded. "What of Bill Compton's telepath? I have heard that you killed her as well."

"Some things cannot be helped," Eric said, somewhat coldly, giving Sookie a wink as he did so. He was rewarded with an eye roll from her.

"I must say that I was surprised to hear that you killed her, given your fascination with her in Dallas."

"As I told you then, I had no interest in the late Miss Stackhouse, beyond what she could do to help me find my maker."

"Then why bother killing her?" the vampiress asked. "It seems so unlike what I know of you—and what Godric told me of you."  
"I had my reasons," Eric said, "many of which had to do with the help she could have given to my enemies."

"There is rumor that more vampires than just the Authority are looking for you," she said.

"Indeed. Russell Edgington is the one who killed the Magister. He wants to kill me too."

"So the plot thickens," Isabel commented. "Russell was the one who told the Authority that _you_ murdered the Magister before you threatened Sophie-Anne's life. According to Edgington, you went into a jealous rage after finding out that he had married Sophie-Anne. He said that the Magister stepped in to protect the queen and suffered for his efforts."

Eric scoffed. "And the Authority believed that?"

"My source tells me that they had no choice but to believe it. Nan said that she saw video footage which proved it."

"Interesting," Eric said. "I was not aware that Nan Flanagan was involved in this situation."

"You know Nan. Like a cockroach, she will always be where it is most annoying for her to be."

"And how are you, Isabel?" Eric asked, changing the subject.

"I am adapting to my new role," she responded quietly. "I miss my sheriff very much, however."

Eric sighed. "I have heard that you are filling Godric's place well."

"I have his role. I will never fill his place."

"I have a favor to ask," Eric said after a moment of silence had passed between them.

"What is it?"

"Russell Edgington will soon be coming to Texas to search for me."

"Are you in Texas?" she asked.

"Not at present," he lied smoothly, winking at Sookie again. "I was, however, in your fine state just a few days ago."

"I cannot stand against Russell," Isabel said warily. "Few could."

"Nor would I ask you to," he responded. "I would just like for the Authority to get wind of the same information that will lead Russell Edgington to my residence near Houston so that Russell will have," he paused, "_company_. But that information must come from the _right_ source. Tell me—how is Miguel? Have you seen him lately?"

"Sí," the vampiress responded with a smile in her voice. "Miguelito and I are lovers once more. After Hugo, I felt the need to reconnect with my vampire brother."

Sookie cringed a bit. She knew that vampires didn't think the same as humans and that terms like "brother" and "child" weren't seen as familial in the same way, but she was still getting used to terms like "brother" and "lover" being in the same sentence.

"Do you want me to have him pass along information to the Authority?" Isabel asked.

"Yes. It would be easy for him to do so since he is lieutenant to the sheriff of the Houston area, as well as the area's investigator," Eric said. "Plus, he knows me and would recognize my scent."

"I suppose that your wish would be that the Authority received this information soon?" she asked almost mischievously.

"Russell will likely be in Texas tomorrow evening—along with Victor Madden."

Isabel scoffed. "Es una pena que nadie ha puesto un trozo de madera en él todavía." ["_It is too bad that no one has put a piece of wood into him yet_."]

Sookie looked at Eric in question.

"Yes," the Viking said. "It is a _great_ shame that a piece of wood has not found Madden's heart. I believe Miguel would agree."

"Sí," Isabel said. "After what Felipe de Castro and his little bitch boy did to our maker, there is nothing Miguelito and I would not do to take revenge. Unfortunately, we were unable to prove the treason charge before we had to flee Nevada."

Eric nodded to Sookie, and she breathed a silent sigh of relief. Eric had told her the story of how Isabel's maker, Federico, had once been the king of Nevada; however, Felipe and Victor had staged a coup almost sixty years before. Isabel and Miguel had sought refuge with the queen of Texas—Queen Dulcina—who had been an ally of Federico's. Dulcina had also been well-respected by Godric even though she was over thirteen hundred years his junior.

"What do you need?" Isabel asked passionately. "Miguelito and I are at your service, Viking. If it is a chance for revenge against Madden and de Castro that you offer, we offer our lives."

"I hope it won't come to that," Eric said honestly. "However, I will eventually have to face Russell, and the less I have to worry about the likes of Madden and de Castro, the better. For now, however, I want Russell to think that the vampires of Texas _might_ be helping me, but there can be no direct proof of this. I do not want Dulcina to incur his wrath. I just want the question to be in Russell's mind."

"That is why you want the Authority and _not_ the queen's vampires to interfere with Russell's search of your Houston residence?"

"Exactly. However, I am certain that Russell will not check in with Dulcina when he passes into Texas."

Isabel chuckled. "I am certain you are right. And that would be extremely rude of a king not to do."

"Indeed," Eric said. "I will text you the address. Oh—and Isabel?

"Yes?"

"Given the fact that Nan is extremely," he paused, "annoying, perhaps your queen should consider contacting someone else in the Authority when my scent is discovered in her state."

"I'm sure she would be amenable to that suggestion," Isabel returned after a moment.

"Good."

"I will call Miguelito as soon as I hang up with you. When you need us, you will have friends in Texas."

"Thank you."

"Eric . . . ," Isabel began a little hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Godric would be disappointed that you killed Sookie Stackhouse. He valued her—despite their short acquaintance."

"I valued her too. But—as I said—some things cannot be helped," Eric said before hanging up.

Eric and Sookie looked at each other in silence for a few moments.

"She'll help?" Sookie asked.

"Without a doubt."

"I'm glad Godric felt that way about me," she said with a little smile.

"He was a good judge of character, and he knew me well. He could tell that I valued you too."

Sookie nodded, understanding well the significance of Eric's words. He was emphasizing the fact that he had valued her _before_ the blood tie and _before_ the Fae bond—as _more_ than just an asset—or a piece of ass.

"Can I ask you some questions about the vampire bond during dinner?" Sookie asked as she moved to return to the kitchen. Eric had had his dinner with her the previous night as well, and she hoped that the practice would continue.

He nodded. "Of course. Would you like to eat outside on the patio tonight? There are candles that I can light—to keep away the insects."

"Yes. That'd be nice," she said a little shyly. "Uh—I'm baking a casserole; it'll be ready in about an hour," she informed. "Can you wait to eat till then, or do you want your TrueBlood now?"

"I'll wait," he said.

She smiled a little. "The—uh—big bedroom is light-tight, right?" she asked. "I put your things in there, but I wasn't certain whether you had another resting place in the house."

"No—the bedroom is the only light-tight space here."

She'd found out from Eric the previous night that his homes had various types of light-tight spaces. The one in Fredericksburg had had only a simply crawl space accessed by a trap door in the bedroom closet. However, most of the homes had a basement area or a bedroom that was light-tight.

"I moved your things into the master bedroom as well, Sookie," Eric said seriously. "There is no need for us to pretend that we wish to rest anywhere other than together. It is not just you who cannot sleep when we are not near to each other," he added.

She blushed a little. "I didn't want to presume."

"You can—presume," he said sincerely.

She smiled and looked down at the floor, a slight blush ghosting her cheeks.

"I will scope out the area," he said when she didn't speak for a moment. "Have you made your list?"

Sookie nodded and pulled a list out of her jeans pocket. Their nearest neighbor, Charlie Johnson, was actually the official owner of the house they were in, and he was also the caretaker of the property. In addition, Eric sent him money to help keep up his own property in order to ensure that Charlie wasn't compelled to move.

"Have you decided?" he asked.

"I think I want to," she smiled.

Eric had told her that Charlie raised horses and gave lessons, and he'd offered to glamour the man so that he would give Sookie a private lesson the next day.

"I've never ridden a horse," she added.

Eric smiled. "That will change tomorrow," he said before flying out of the home. His plan was to check the area for any unusual scents and then to drive to Charlie's and glamour him to take the car and fill it up as well as pick up their supplies. While there, he would also glamour Charlie to accept a first-time student without question the next day. If Sookie enjoyed horseback riding, perhaps they could go riding together the night after that. He'd not ridden a horse for almost a hundred years. In fact, he was half-tempted to teach Sookie himself, but he wanted to give her the chance to figure out for herself whether or not she liked the activity. He didn't want his emotions—through blood tie or Fae bond—to influence her. So it was best if she tried horseback riding while he was asleep.

He chuckled as he flew past a decimated cactus. "You really did blow it all to hell, didn't you, min kara!" he said with a chuckle.

As he continued to the old rancher's home—still chuckling at the sight of the destroyed plant—the vampire didn't even realize that he'd called Sookie his "beloved."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this is being posted after I'd intended. I had a headache Friday, so—instead of pushing it—I just took that day off from any computer work, beyond emails. And then yesterday, I got into working on the third part of this trilogy, which has been languishing for a bit. The good news is that I wrote ten more pages on that.**

** I hope you liked this chapter. It serves mostly as an introduction to a few new characters, but I'm hoping that you also enjoyed seeing how Eric and Sookie's relationship continues to evolve as they are both getting used to the fae bond. **

**Until next time,**

**Kat**

**Don't forget to check out my WordPress for Seph's art: californiakat1564. wordpress. com**


	15. Chapter 15: I Trust

**Chapter 15: I Trust **

"_**To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved."—George MacDonald**_

Having completed his glamouring of Charlie, Eric returned to the patio to find the table already set. Sookie was in the en-suite bathroom of their room, and the hearty smell of the food that she was preparing filled the air.

He smiled. He liked the smell.

The vampire busied himself with moving candles around the table. He lit them right after he heard the timer of the oven go off.

Sookie appeared minutes later. She was wearing a yellow sundress; it was the only one she had since sundresses were conspicuous, so she couldn't really wear them when they were traveling.

"It's a warm night," she said as Eric took in her appearance with appreciation.

"It is," he agreed. "You look lovely."

She smiled, and her face took on a slight shade of pink as she put down her plate and the glass of TrueBlood she was carrying. In their time together, Eric had learned that Sookie preferred to give him his meal in a glass, instead of a bottle. It was a little thing, but the vampire appreciated it nonetheless.

"Thanks," she said. "This is nice."

"It is," he agreed again as he pulled out her seat for her.

She turned a little pinker, and he could tell she was nervous.

"Shall we eat and _then_ speak?" the vampire suggested.

Sookie nodded and immediately looked more relaxed—clearly because the topic she was intending to bring up was a difficult one for her. She dug into her casserole and blew on her bite to make sure the food was cool enough to eat.

"Good?" Eric asked after she'd been eating—and groaning her appreciation—for several minutes.

She nodded. "Yes."

"So—tell me. Do you like the desert?" he asked, happy to engage her in small talk as they ate their respective meals.

She considered for a moment. "Well, it's hot," she giggled. "But yes. I do. It's so peaceful here. It reminds me of Gran's house in Bon Temps in a weird way because there aren't neighbors close."

"You still think of your house in Bon Temps as your grandmother's home? Not yours?" Eric asked.

"Yeah," Sookie answered quickly. "Actually Gran left me the farmhouse, and Jason got my parents' old house. But Gran's house doesn't feel like it's mine—not really. At least, not yet. And now there's so much damage from the Maenad that I wonder how I'll ever be able to fix it all."

"One day we will repair it together, Sookie," Eric said. "_If_ we live," he added with a boyish grin that broke through all the melancholy in the air—despite the seriousness of his words.

They finished their meal, speaking of the little market where Sookie had stopped that day, before she took in their dirty dishes. She returned with a slice of her pecan pie.

She stared at the slice for a moment and then looked up at Eric. From the seriousness in her eyes, he could tell that she was preparing to tell him something important, so he leaned forward to listen.

"I loved my Gran's cooking," Sookie began. "But mostly I loved it because of the way she _thought_ when she was making food." She smiled and closed her eyes for a moment. "She liked teaching me how to do things, and she liked the fact that it felt 'normal' when we cooked together. But she never taught me how to cook her pecan pie." She shook her head and frowned. "She'd just made one for me the day she died. She'd made another for the Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting we'd gone to that night, but she knew how much I loved them, so she made an extra." Her smile came back. "And she was sneaky too—always makin' them while I was at work so that I didn't _hear_ exactly how she did it."

"I would have liked her," Eric said matter-of-factly.

"She would have been skeptical of you," Sookie returned with a little chuckle. "You come off as—um—gruff at first. And arrogant. But she would have liked you eventually."

"Hard won approval?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yes."

"The best kind, "he said sincerely.

They were silent for a moment as Sookie was obviously gathering her thoughts.

"The day of Gran's funeral, I sat at the kitchen table and ate all that was left of the pecan pie she'd made, knowing it would be my last taste of her cooking—my last time with her in a way."

"That must have been difficult for you to do—especially in the room where she'd been murdered."

"Yes," Sookie confirmed in a whisper. "But I wanted to be where she was alive for the last time. I _needed_ to be there. I felt less alone in there than I did anywhere else in the house." She looked from the pie on her plate to Eric. "Did you know that Rene killed my cat too? Not the same day as he killed Gran—but earlier?"

"I didn't," Eric said.

"When I cleaned up Gran's blood, I found a few pieces of cat food under the refrigerator," she said in a faraway voice. "And I realized that I'd left Tina's food and water dishes out on the porch. I washed them in the same dishwater load as I washed the empty pie plate. But then I decided to throw the cat dishes away."

"Why?" the vampire asked.

"I knew that I would just love another cat if I got one, and I didn't want to think about losing something else. Or loving anything else."

Eric nodded. He understood.

"After I threw the dishes away, I went upstairs and lay down. I was so tired."

He tensed, suddenly aware of where the conversation might be going. "And did you sleep?"

She nodded, a look of dread washing over her face.

"And did you dream?"

She nodded again and then took a deep breath. "Uncle Bartlett was in my dream. Jason never knew what he did to me, so he made sure Uncle Bartlett came to the funeral. Jason always blamed me for the fact that Uncle Bartlett quit coming around. He thought it was because of my curse. I guess it was in a way." She closed her eyes and trembled as she remembered her fear from the dream. "When the dream started, my uncle was sitting in the chair he always sat in, and he was looking at me and thinking bad things—just like always. He wanted me to sit on his lap so that he could . . . ." Her voice trailed off.

"Sookie," Eric whispered as he reached out to lightly take her hand.

She took another deep breath. "I felt so afraid in my dream—just as afraid as I'd been of my uncle when I was a little girl. I wanted to run away, but I couldn't. I wanted to wake up, but I couldn't."

"Sookie," Eric whispered again even as his thumb stroked her palm in a comforting motion.

"In the dream, Uncle Bartlett suddenly became Bill—sitting in that same chair and staring at me in that same way. At first, I was just as afraid of Bill as I'd been of my uncle. But . . . ." She stopped midsentence and let out a little sob.

"You don't have to go on," Eric said soothingly. "You don't have to tell me."

"I know," she said, taking another deep breath. "But I _need_ to say what happened—for me. And for us."

He nodded. "Okay then," he said, squeezing her hand a little.

She took a deep breath. "In the dream, I went from scared to lustful. When I woke up, I felt dirty—almost as if I'd somehow given into Uncle Barlett's advances—as if I was all the things he used to say I was." She shook her head in disgust. "He used to call me his 'special girl.' He used to tell me that he knew I liked it when he touched me. He used to say that if I wasn't so 'special,' he would be able to resist me." She took another shaky breath.

Eric squeezed her hand again, offering her the only comfort he could.

She went on, "I know now that Bill had woven that dream—that he'd instilled fear _and_ lust into it. And the thing I had always feared the most was my uncle, so he'd appeared in the dream." Her body trembled in both fear and disgust again—and shame. "When I woke up, my horror at having dreamt of someone I loathed and someone I thought I loved in the same dream disappeared, and all I could think about was giving myself to Bill." She looked down. "I took a two-hour-long shower as I waited for nightfall and Bill. In my head, I was screaming at myself to get clean. I scrubbed and I scrubbed and I scrubbed. Later, I explained my actions as being from my grief and from seeing my uncle, but now I know it was more. Now I know that Bill's dream was controlling me. And I did—" she paused, "I did feel out of control." She wiped away a tear. "After I showered, I dressed in a long white nightgown I found in Gran's dresser. I think it was from when she got married." She shook her head. "I wanted to look like a bride that night. All I could think about was giving myself to Bill. All I could think about was letting him have me so that I wouldn't have to be afraid anymore. All I could think about was trying not to disappoint him—trying to be worthy of him. All I could think about was that the only way I'd ever feel _clean_ again was if he made love to me."

"That was your first time?" Eric asked in a quiet voice—though Sookie could tell he was covering up his anger at Bill.

Sookie nodded in confirmation. "Yes. And I thought it was my choice to give my virginity to him, but it wasn't. I know now that the woven dream drove me to him. Bill was just like Uncle Bartlett. Maybe that's why I dreamed of them together." She frowned. "They _both_ preyed upon me right after the people I loved most had died. They _both_ made me think I was not worthy to have anyone else. They _both_ made me feel ashamed and guilty of _their_ actions in order to keep controlling me. But Gran wasn't there to save me from Bill—like she saved me from my uncle."

"And you don't want anything between _us_ to happen because you were forced," he said perceptively. "Whether that forcing comes from a vampire bond or the Fae bond," he added.

She nodded. "Yes—and no. Eric—honestly—I'm mainly concerned that I don't force _you_."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "The vampire bond was my suggestion."

Sookie took a deep breath. "Today when I was driving here and then when I was lying in the sun, I came to truly understand that I wouldn't have formed a Fae bond with you if I hadn't _already_ cared about you. From what Niall said, my trust for you had to be real, or the bond would never have formed." She bit her bottom lip as she contemplated her next words. "Somehow I knew that—of all the people I'd ever known—I could trust you the most. I knew as soon as I saw you in the basement of the Fellowship church that I would be okay. Godric saved me from being raped, but it was _you_ who made me feel like I was safe. And you had made me feel that way _before_ we went to Dallas too."

"When?"

"When Bill brought me into Fangtasia after I was attacked by the Maenad. I knew that—as soon as you took charge of things—I would be okay. And also when you and Pam came to Merlotte's to take Bill to the tribunal. You looked back at me when you were walking away that night. It was just a glance, but I thought that there was some kind of promise in it."

Eric sighed. "I spoke up for Bill that night—with the Magister. I didn't really want to—and I certainly didn't have to—but I did. I surprised myself when I did it—and probably surprised Pam even more. But I didn't want you to be hurt—even then."

She nodded. "Obviously, part of me trusted you more than I trusted Bill—much more. Otherwise, I would have offered him this Fae bond thing."

Eric growled involuntarily, an action that made Sookie both smile and lean away from him a little. However, he kept hold of her hand.

"_Don't_," he said, looking down at their entwined fingers. His voice shook with emotion. "Don't speak of Compton and the Fae bond in the same breath."

She squeezed his hand back. "Okay. I won't."

She waited for a few moments as Eric composed himself before taking a deep breath. "What I needed to make clear is that I _chose_ you, Eric. It may have been an unconscious choice, but it was still a choice. A part of me—a part that I'm only just beginning to understand—picked you, and that part of me seems to know what it's doing." She paused and looked up at him, her eyes rich with emotion. "I just need to know if you picked me too—at least in a way. Do you think that you accepted the Fae bond _only_ because of Godric ordering you off of that roof—because your heart was breaking and you felt vulnerable?" She sniffled. "Because—if that's the only reason—then I did to you _exactly_ what Bill did to me. I _pulled_ you to me on the worst day of your whole life. I just unintentionally wove a bond instead of intentionally weaving a dream. But the effects are just the same—regardless of motives"

Eric could feel Sookie's hand shaking—could see her whole body shaking a little—despite the warm air.

"I don't think it's the same," he responded. "Not at all."

"But I still need to know the answer to my question—for my own piece of mind."

He closed his eyes. "I've told you a little about the night you got attacked by the Maenad, but you need to hear the rest." He sighed. "That night, it felt like my world was exploding. I'd been ordered to sell V by the queen, and I'd been told that Godric had disappeared. And I couldn't feel him because he'd shut off his end of our bond years before. And—then—Bill brought you in, and I thought you were going to die." He shook his head. "It was all so much already! Too much. I had to force myself to stay calm and in control when all I wanted to do was to heal you and kill the one who had harmed you. I called Ludwig in, and I sat exactly fourteen feet away as you went through agony." He paused. "I didn't want to be fourteen inches from you—let alone fourteen feet."

"I didn't know."

"How could you have known?" He sighed. "And then Bill gave you his blood. And I wanted to be _him_." He chuckled ruefully. "And—trust me—the idea of me wanting to be BillCompton made me cringe, but I would have traded almost anything to be the one healing you." He paused and opened his eyes. "Fangtasia is light-tight. After Bill went to his rest, I tended to you. You were unconscious, but I cleaned the blood from your back and your face. It calmed me—just to be with you."

"Calmed you?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes. I had many burdens that day, yet your presence aided me as I have never been helped by another before. I may not like the fact that the Fae bond has changed me, but it was _not_ the only thing that changed me." He paused. "So—no—it was not just because of Godric that I accepted the Fae bond, Sookie. I did not knowingly choose the bond, but I _did_ choose _you_."

She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand. "Then, I choose the vampire bond, Eric.

He nodded and smiled a little. "Tomorrow night?"

"Why not now?" she asked. "Do you need more time to think?"

"No," he shook his head. "I want you to have one more day to think about it. Tomorrow, you will learn how to ride a horse, and you can lie in the sun." He smiled a little. "You are safe here, and you can have," he paused, "fun. When I rise, we'll practice your magic and enjoy another meal. We'll swim in the pool together and then bathe together if you wish—just as we used to. Then—if it is still what you wish—we will exchange blood for a second time."

She nodded. "That sounds nice."

"For now, why don't you eat your dessert and then show me a bit of your magic. There are many more cacti to kill," he winked.

She chuckled and took a bite of the pecan pie.

* * *

**A/N: Hello! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I very much appreciate the comments for the last chapter—and for my new story, which is called **_**Salt Water**_** (I hope you will check it out if you haven't already).**

** So—Sookie has decided to do the vampire bond and—better yet—they've **_**finally**_** realized that the Fae bond is not responsible for their whole relationship. I really wanted to show Sookie's struggle here. I think it makes sense that she is very reluctant to have a physical relationship with Eric if she thinks it's "forced" on either side. She has realized that it's not being "forced" on her; she needed to make sure it wasn't for him either. I think that's why I like this Sookie more than my others. When she "talks" to me as I write, she seems more logical and thoughtful of others—maybe b/c of where I started the story. Anyway, enough rambling. **

**Until next time,**

**Kat **


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